Although often overlooked, the integument of many tetrapods is reinforced by a
morphologically and structurally diverse assemblage of skeletal elements. These elements …

We review the phylogeny, sperm competition, morphology, physiology, and fertilization
environments of the sperm of externally fertilizing fish and amphibians. Increased sperm …

Molecular phylogenies have yielded strong support for many parts of the amphibian Tree of
Life, but poor support for the resolution of deeper nodes, including relationships among …

How consciousness appeared much earlier in evolutionary history than is commonly
assumed, and why all vertebrates and perhaps even some invertebrates are conscious …

Amphibia comprises over 7000 extant species distributed in almost every ecosystem on
every continent except Antarctica. Most species also show high specificity for particular …

Were molecular data available for extinct taxa, questions regarding the origins of many
groups could be settled in short order. As this is not the case, various strategies have been …

Living amphibians (Lissamphibia) include frogs and salamanders (Batrachia) and the
limbless worm-like caecilians (Gymnophiona). The estimated Palaeozoic era gymnophionan …

Background Lepidosauria (lizards, snakes, tuatara) is a globally distributed and ecologically
important group of over 9,000 reptile species. The earliest fossil records are currently …

Phylogenetic analysis of early tetrapod evolution has resulted in a consensus across diverse
data sets,, in which the tetrapod stem group is a relatively homogenous collection of medium …

Anura (frogs and toads) constitute over 88% of living amphibian diversity but many important
questions about their phylogeny and evolution remain unresolved. For this study, we …