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Reptiles and amphibians are sometimes thought of as primitive dull and dim-witted. In fact of course they can be lethally fast spectacularly beautiful surprisingly affectionate and very sophisticated. They have remarkably varied ways of catching their prey and of defending themselves. They can produce a great turn of speed and fight with impressive zest. Some have spectacular colours and show off to one another. They communicate with calls and with gestures. And there. Thats it. The full works. Reptiles and amphibians have scaly skins and amphibians soft moist ones.
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Amphibians were the first backboned animals to leave the water and colonise the land. Today there are some 6000 species of them and new ones are constantly being discovered. We may not often see them but during the breeding season we certainly hear them. Choruses like this ensure that we are well aware of frogs and toads. But there are others kinds of amphibians that dont make themselves so obvious. Newts and their close relatives the salamanders. And even ones that have completely lost their legs.
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| REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS VIDEO Dragons Of The Dry
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About 340 million years ago a brand new family of animals was evolving in the primeval swamps. They were to go one step further than the amphibians who had emerged onto dry land before them. For they would eventually completely cut their ties with water. They were the ancestors of todays lizards. They evolved scaly impermeable skins and moved up into the forests.
They diversified into a multitude of different shapes and sizes. They developed signalling systems to communicate with one another.
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