Amphibians Breathe Through Lungs

Amphibians such as frogs use more than one organ of respiration during their life.

Amphibians breathe through lungs. They must function as gills while the animal is still underwater but they allow the animal to breathe through the skin directly as adults. The lungs of amphibians are very poorly developed and are simple saclike structures. Most amphibians breathe through lungs and their skin.

As long as their skin is moist they can absorb oxygen directly from the air or water through the skin. To aid this diffusion amphibian skin must remain moist. Adult amphibians may be either terrestrial or aquatic and breathe either through their skin when in water or by their simple saclike lungs when on land.

No matter how big or small the mammal is they always use their lungs to inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. Amphibians are cold-blooded vertebrate animals that have an aquatic phase of life spent in water breathing through gills and a terrestrial phase of life living on land breathing with lungs. When a toad is inactive the skin usually absorbs enough oxygen to meet its needs.

These viviparous organisms have scales on their bodies to preserve moisture and offer protection against mechanical injuries. The mechanism of lung inflation in amphibians is the buccal cavity mouth-throat pumping mechanism that also functions in air-breathing fishes. With some amphibians it appears that they can breathe underwater when in fact they are holding their breath.

Amphibians have gills when they are young or they breathe through their skin. Many young amphibians also have feathery gills to extract oxygen from water but later lose these and develop lungs. There are a few amphibians that do not have lungs and only breathe through their skin.

Most amphibians breathe through lungs and their skin. Elephants are mammals. To produce inspiration the floor of the mouth is depressed causing air to be drawn into the buccal cavity through the nostrils.