Amphibians

103Paleozoic

Weight-bearing limbs accompanied a fish-like tail in an animal still deeply tied to water.

118Recently extinct

Brilliant orange males gathered briefly each rainy season within a tiny highland range.

119Recently extinct

Females swallowed fertilized eggs, suppressed stomach acid and released developed froglets from the mouth.

212Paleozoic

Each forelimb carried eight digits, yet the animal was still mainly aquatic—digits evolved before true land walking.

213Paleozoic

Its skull spread sideways into a boomerang, perhaps producing lift in current or making it hard to swallow.

214Paleozoic

A broad, heavily sculpted skull and strong limbs carried its massive body through shallow water and onto banks.

215Paleozoic

Its adult skeleton looked reptile-like, yet it belonged just outside the fully land-breeding amniotes.

216Paleozoic

A high bony sail towered above the squat body and may have served display, recognition or heat exchange.

217Paleozoic

A long, tooth-filled snout gave this giant amphibian a gharial-like aquatic profile.

323Mesozoic

A shovel-flat skull may have opened by lifting the upper jaw.

324Mesozoic

A broad flat head occupied nearly the full width of its front body.

325Paleozoic

Tiny limbs and strong jaws show an early tetrapod returning almost completely to water.

351Mesozoic

A broad skull and massive body made it one of the largest known frogs.

352Mesozoic

A giant amphibian still occupied cold rivers where crocodyliforms were uncommon.

353Mesozoic

Two lower-jaw tusks passed through openings in the palate when the mouth closed.

354Mesozoic

It had a broad head and shortened trunk but lacked the full jumping machinery of modern frogs.

355Paleozoic

A frog-like head and salamander-like tail combine traits near the origin of living amphibians.

356Mesozoic

The adult tail was gone, but the trunk remained more primitive than in modern frogs.

357Mesozoic

A broad head, short trunk and long tail show the salamander plan already well established.

358Cenozoic

Its wedge-shaped skull belonged to an ancient amphibian lineage separate from frogs and salamanders.

359Paleozoic

An elongated nostril region may reflect life in drier upland settings.

360Paleozoic

More than forty trunk vertebrae formed a long body with extremely small limbs.

361Paleozoic

Adults retained external gills, extending a juvenile condition through life.

362Paleozoic

Forward-facing toes show an early tetrapod using a more effective terrestrial gait.

363Paleozoic

A reinforced skull and fang-like teeth belonged to a powerful river predator.

364Paleozoic

A long trunk and deep tail propelled it through murky water.

365Paleozoic

The ear region and sturdy limbs suggest more terrestrial activity than in many contemporaries.

366Paleozoic

Many individuals were entombed inside hollow tree stumps.

367Paleozoic

A row of bony back plates reinforced this stocky terrestrial amphibian.

368Paleozoic

A serrated rear skull margin may have protected the neck or supported soft tissue.

369Mesozoic

Its semicircular skull was extraordinarily broad and flat.

370Mesozoic

A giant temnospondyl still occupied river ambush niches in the dinosaur era.

371Paleozoic

This broad-headed aquatic predator was common in southern Late Permian waters.

372Mesozoic

A narrow snout was built to snap at fish in water.

373Paleozoic

The limbs vanished entirely while the skull and spine retained tetrapod construction.

374Mesozoic

It had a caecilian-like body but still retained four tiny legs.

375Mesozoic

A skull more than two meters long belonged to one of the largest freshwater amphibian predators.

376Paleozoic

A long snout, lateral-line grooves and weak limbs show permanent aquatic dependence.

377Mesozoic

A near-complete skeleton reveals the full proportions of a giant Triassic amphibian.

378Cenozoic

Its skeleton was once mistaken for a human killed in the biblical flood.

443Paleozoic

Paired backward horns widened the skull of this small diplocaulid.

444Mesozoic

Closed otic notches and a broad flat skull marked a giant aquatic ambush predator.

445Mesozoic

A broad half-meter skull carried grooves that sensed water movement.

446Paleozoic

A small light body combined traits near the ancestry of modern amphibians.

490Paleozoic

External gills and a long body show a temnospondyl that remained aquatic throughout life.

491Paleozoic

A broad head, strong trunk and compressed tail belonged to a large freshwater predator.

525Mesozoic

An extremely narrow snout gave this temnospondyl a gharial-like profile on an amphibian skeleton.

526Paleozoic

A tiny body and retained gill structures marked a branchiosaurid amphibian.

527Paleozoic

A short trunk, mobile neck and ear region approach the body plan of modern amphibian ancestors.

528Mesozoic

A narrow sensory-grooved snout suited an open-water temnospondyl.

529Paleozoic

A broad flat head, strong trunk and compressed tail belonged to a large aquatic predator.

560Paleozoic

A broad flat skull and dense pointed teeth belonged to a large aquatic temnospondyl.