bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

A

Choose the correct option

Amphibians are warm/cold-blooded vertebrates/invertebrates capable of living both on land and in water. They  hatch from eggs and start life living in the water as larva with feathers/gills. They then transform into land-dwelling adults with air-breathing lungs.

Which of these are not amphibians?

frog, eel, salamander, toad, earthworm, python

B

Match these rare and protected local amphibians to their pictures

1.

2.

a. Hong Kong cascade frog

b. Romer's tree frog

C

The Hong Kong warty newt lives near rivers and ponds in the forests and hills.

From above, this amphibian's body is an unremarkable brown, but each  newt has a unique pattern of pretty orange patches on its tummy. Adults grow up to

15 centimetres long from nose to tail. They  eat earthworms, slugs and maggots, but will also eat other insects they come across.

As the warty newt is found only in Hong Kong and  Guangdong province  and  only very few remain,  it is a protected species.

D

Amphibian English

1. To have a frog in your throat means ...

2. Toad-in-the-hole is ...

3. When  English people talk about Frogs, they mean ...

4. A person who is a toad is ...

a.  mean or hateful

b. French people

c. a meal of sausages in batter

d. to  find it difficult to speak

E

Did you know?

They have been around for more than 300 million years, but in the past 20 years amphibians all over the world have been dying in huge numbers. Whole species are becoming extinct in just a few years.

Scientists believe 130 species have vanished since 1980.  More than one third of remaining species are in similar danger of disappearing.  Studies also show that in some species, up to 60 per cent of newborns are malformed.

Nobody is sure what is causing this disaster. Some believe it is the result of global warming, while others point at pollution, disease and habitat destruction.

Changes in amphibians' skin tells us how the environment is changing. Biologists  warn that if nothing is done to stop environmental destruction, other animals and plants will soon be at risk too. What do you think should be done?

Learn more about amphibians by visiting Amphibia Web at http://amphibiaweb.org

Answers: A. cold-blooded, vertebrates, gills; eel, earthworm, python; B. 1. b, 2. a; D. 1. d, 2. c, 3. b, 4. a



Amazing amphibians