Characteristics of Amphibians

• part water, part land, • three chambered heart • ectothermic • double loop (their heart pumps to the lungs, and then back to the heart, and then to the rest of the body, an then back to the heart) • gills to lungs (they start as a fish with gills and then they grow to have lungs on land)

• metamorphosis (a biological process by which an animal physically develops after birth or hatching) • estivation (a prolonged state of inactivity of an animal during hot or dry weather) • hibernation or torpor (a survival strategy designed to conserve energy when conditions are harsh)