AMPHIBIA 



293 



naked skin, gills in the larval stages, lungs in the adult, a three- 

 chambered heart of one ventricle and two auricles. The larva 

 is a tadpole with a broad tail but no paired appendages. It is a 

 vegetable feeder and has a long coiled intestine. In meta- 

 morphosis the tail. shrivels as the legs develop. At the same time 

 the gills are also resorbed and the lungs are developed and be- 



FIG. 171. Salamandra maculosa, the fire salamander of Europe. Slightly 



reduced. 



come functional as respiratory organs. The adult is carnivorous 

 and the digestive tract is relatively shorter in correspondence 

 to the character of the diet. This is the type of metamorphosis 

 which occurs in the frogs and toads. The newts and salaman- 

 ders undergo a less radical transformation. The skeleton is 



