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The largest living amphibian is the 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus), but this is dwarfed by the extinct 9 m (30 ft) Prionosuchus from the middle Permian of Brazil. The study of amphibians is called batrachology, while the study of both reptiles and amphibians is called herpetology.
Amphibians are vertebrate animals residing in a wide range of habitats, such as aquatic, terrestrial, and arboreal. Evolution of the earliest amphibians took place in the Devonian period; their features modified over a period of time. While some are extinct, following are the characteristics of the extant species of class Amphibia. Â» The color of the skin of amphibians is a result of three layers of cells called chromatophores. 1  Deepest layer is made up of melanophores. 2  Intermediate layer consists of guanophores giving the organism the blue-green color.  Topmost layer consists of lipophores, which give the yellow color to the organisms.