| Amphibia Temporal range: EarlyCarboniferous–Holocene | |
|---|---|
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| Some prehistorc amphibians | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia Gray, 1825 |
| clade: | Batrachomorpha |
| Subgroups | |
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Amphibia is a class of tetrapod vertebrates commonly known as Amphibians. The term Amphibian can also be more broadly used as a Paraphyletic grouping for all non amniotic tetrapods. Amphibians are well known for the fact that they are dependent on both water and land. Considered one of the oldest tetrapod classes, the earliest forms date back to at least 350 million years (Carboniferous period) and lives to this day. Originally, ancestors were fish-like with fins that looked like legs. Eventually these fins turned into functional legs and they made the transition to land living animals.
During the Carboniferous and early Permian, many types of prehistoric amphibians flourished; these belonged to the two ancient, extinct, subclasses Labyrinthodontia (now known to be Paraphyletic) and Lepospondyli (which may also be paraphyletic). Modern amphibians (Subclass Lissamphibia) first evolved during the Triassic and Jurassic.