Amphibia: Information
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By the end of this section, you will be able to:Describe the important difference between the life cycle of amphibians and the life cycles of other vertebratesDistinguish between the characteristics of Urodela, Anura, and ApodaDescribe the evolutionary history of amphibians
This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:
"Amphibians are one of the most vulnerable animal groups on the planet, with over 40% of their species threatened with extinction. A major driver of that vulnerability is the fungal pathogen _Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis_ (Bd). Bd is linked to the decline of at least 500 amphibian species, the greatest loss in biodiversity due to a pathogen ever recorded. The amphibian skin microbiome community structure has been linked to health outcomes of Bd infection, but the functional importance of the microbiota is not yet fully understood. To close this gap and potentially discover biomarkers or disease control methods, researchers investigated the microbiome of midwife toads. They examined both wild populations with naturally occurring Bd infection and controlled laboratory exposure. Infection with Bd led to changes in the microbial community structure, gene profile, and metabolic function in laboratory and wild toad populations..."
The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.