| 释义 |
am·phib·ia
\amˈfibēə, aam-\ noun plural
Usage: capitalized
Etymology: New Latin, from amphibia, plural of amphibium amphibious being, from Greek amphibion, from neuter of amphibios leading a double life, amphibious — more at amphibious
1. : a class of Vertebrata comprising forms (as the frogs, toads, newts, and salamanders) that are intermediate in many respects between fishes and reptiles, all being cold-blooded with nucleated red blood cells and a 3-chambered heart; having limbs that, when present, terminate in digits that are unlike fins, two occipital condyles, ribs not attached to the sternum, and a moist skin without scales, feathers, or hair; developing without forming either amnion or allantois; being in most cases oviparous, passing through an aquatic larval stage in which they are provided with gills, afterwards undergoing a more or less marked metamorphosis usually losing the gills and breathing by means of lungs or, when these are lacking, as in certain salamanders, through the skin or mucous membrane of the mouth; and feeding chiefly on insects and other small invertebrates, some forms being important destroyers of insects — see caudata, gymnophiona, salientia
2. : the members of the class Amphibia : amphibians |