Don’t feel bad if you’ve never seen a caecilian, let alone don’t know how to pronounce the word. These rare, legless amphibians—which look like a cross between a worm and a snake—spend most of their time underground, far from the prying eyes of scientists and other humans. Although some of the 190 or so known [...]

Urban growth is quickly driving one of the world’s most bizarre creatures into extinction. According to a new study, the axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum), a Mexican amphibian that never metamorphoses past its larval stage, has seen a 90 percent population drop in the last four years. Only an estimated 700 to 1,200 axolotls now remain. The [...]

Several new species of rare Hawaiian moth caterpillars have been discovered to be able to thrive both totally submerged and totally dry. They are the first insects to be described as fully amphibious, reported a team of researchers in a study published online March 22 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This [...]

Together with its cousins, the Japanese and Chinese Giant Salamanders, the hellbender is one of the largest amphibians in the world, and part of the only group of animals that can breathe mostly through folds of excess skin between their front and back legs. They’re a strange creature worth investing in, especially now that their [...]

The concept of biomimicry is increasingly popular and useful. Recent advances in robotics are giving us the soft, colour-changing robotic octopus. Concept artist and science fiction illustrator Brian Lindahl took the idea in another direction, with his lonely picture of a heavily armored Swamp Frog Mech standing guard in a marsh. Could it hop out [...]