Question

As a naturalist, you are responsible for training volunteers in the identification of the types of amphibians. The volunteers will use this information to correctly describe the animals to school groups that will visit your nature center. The training documentation for the volunteers lists important characteristics of the different groups of amphibians, but you notice that one of the items on the list is incorrect. Indicate which description is not correct.

A. Frogs, toads, and most salamanders have four legs whereas caecilians are legless.
B. While some frogs may advertise their distasteful nature by bright coloration, salamanders always have cryptic coloration.
C. Some adult salamanders retain larval characteristics such as external gills.
D. Most caecilians can be found burrowing in the soil of tropical forests.

Answer 1

B. While some frogs may advertise their distasteful nature by bright coloration, salamanders always have cryptic coloration.

Step-by-step explanation:

Amphibians are vertebrates which can live both on land and in water. they are cold-blooded and therefore, depend on warmth from sunlight to become warm and active. Their young live fully in water respire using gills. The adults have moist skins through which they respire and therefore, live in moist places or near water to keep their bodies from drying out. Many adult amphibians also have poison-producing glands in their skin to ward off predators. Poisonous amphibians usually display a warning coloration. . The species in this group include frogs, toads, salamanders, caecilians and newts.

Considering the above descriptions:

A. Frogs, toads, and most salamanders have four legs whereas caecilians are legless.

True: Caecilians are a group of limbless, wormlike or serpentine amphibians that mostly live in underground burrows or in substratum of shallow streams.

B. While some frogs may advertise their distasteful nature by bright coloration, salamanders always have cryptic coloration.

False: Some frogs such as poison frogs as well as some salamanders such as the California newt and the red eft which a brightly colored terrestrial juvenile form of the eastern newt is highly poisonous. advertise their distasteful nature by bright coloration.

C. Some adult salamanders retain larval characteristics such as external gills.

True: Some adult salamanders retain larval characteristics such as external gills. e.g. species such as the mudpuppy (Necturus maculosus) retain their gills throughout their lives.

D. Most caecilians can be found burrowing in the soil of tropical forests.

True: Caecilians are a group of limbless, wormlike or serpentine amphibians that mostly live in underground burrows or in substratum of shallow streams.