Related Resources
Leaping to Their Aid
As amphibians continue to decline faster than any other group of vertebrates, Smithsonian scientists and their partners work together to save them.
Breaking the Fall of Frogs
National Zoo scientists help to create a safety net for frogs, which are declining around the world at alarming rates.
On
Waterdogs, Mudpuppies, and the Occasional Hellbender
While most of the world’s
amphibian species are frogs, the class Amphibia boasts a wide assortment of often-bizarre life forms.
Amphibian
Invaders: Down Under and All Around
Not all amphibians are suffering population declines. Some
are flourishing in places they don't belong—and causing serious ecological
problems.
Reptiles
The world's 8,240 species of reptiles inhabit every continent except Antarctica.
Reptiles include turtles, snakes, crocodiles, and lizards.
They can be as small as the dwarf gecko (less than an inch long) or as big as the saltwater crocodile, which can weigh more than a ton.
All reptiles have scales, but some are too small to be seen.
Reptiles are ectothermic (their body temperature is regulated by their environment).
Most lay eggs, but a few give birth to live young.
Amphibians
News
One of Japan’s “special natural treasures” is now among the National Zoo’s most valued scientific gems, after a voyage that has united two cultures in an international conservation effort. In 2010, the City of Hiroshima Asa Zoological Park gave the Zoo Japanese giant salamanders. These salamanders will be the foundation of a new long-term breeding program in the United States and may play an important role in saving amphibians around the globe. 
Read more.
As frogs around the world continue to disappear, one critically endangered species has received an encouraging boost. The Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project, of which the National Zoo is a partner, announced in November 2010 that it is the first to successfully breed the La Loma tree frog. Read more.
Amphibian Crisis
Amphibians are in crisis. One-third of all known amphibian species are in danger of being wiped out by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd)—also known as chytrid fungus. Experts and institutions have joined together to form the Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project, which aims to rescue and possibly save numerous species.
The discovery of what may be three new frog species by researchers in Panama illustrates the hope and fear encountered daily by the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project. The discoveries lead to hope that project researchers can save these animals from a deadly fungus killing frogs worldwide and the fear that many species will go extinct before scientists even know they exist. Read more.
There are more than 6,000 species of amphibians on Earth, including frogs, toads, salamanders, and newts.
One-third of amphibians are threatened with extinction.
For most amphibians, life begins in the water—the young have gills and lack legs when they hatch from eggs laid in the water.
They metamorphose, growing legs and changing in other ways to live on land.
The word "amphibian" comes from Greek—both lives.
Amphibians became the first vertebrates to live on land, and like their "cold-blooded" reptile relatives, depend on external energy sources
(such as the sun) to maintain their body temperatures. Read more about being ectothermic.
Read all about Operation Shenandoah Salamander.
Donate to the Zoo’s Amphibian Conservation Program
Exhibits
At the National Zoo, reptiles and amphibians can be found at the Reptile Discovery Center and Amazonia.
Take a Virtual Tour of the Reptile Discovery Center
The Reptile Discovery Center is home to many distinctive animals, from the massive
Aldabra tortoise to the unusual
gharial, to better known creatures such as the
American alligator,
Komodo dragon, and
boa constrictor.
more about the Reptile Discovery Center
Reptiles and Amphibians Photo Gallery |
Help with cam
Can't see any animals?
The animal(s) in this enclosure may have moved out of view.
Gharials are large, endangered crocodiles from India and Nepal. Adult males grow to be 16 to 20 feet long, and females reach 13 feet or more. Gharials have more than 100 teeth and a long, narrow snout. You might catch a glimpse of one of the Zoo's gharials, which hatched in 1979, in the underwater camera.
Gharial Facts
More about the Zoo's reptiles and amphibians:
