Word Origin & History. moniker 1849, said to be originally a hobo term (but attested in London underclass from 1851), of uncertain origin; perhaps from monk (monks and nuns take new names with their vows, and early 19c. British tramps referred to themselves as in the monkery).
northern American bull frog (female) Frogs, toads, and salamanders belong to a class of animals called Amphibians. They are vertebrates (back-boned animals) with smooth (moist) or warty skins. They lay unshelled eggs, usually in water, and most species have a gilled, swimming larval stage (such as a tadpole).
Salamanders are amphibians that look like a cross between a frog and a lizard. Their bodies are long and slender; their skin is moist and usually smooth; and they have long tails. Salamanders are very diverse; some have four legs; some have two. Also, some have lungs, some have gills, and some have neither â they breathe through their skin. Salamanders belong to the order Caudata, one of three orders in the Amphibia class, along with Anura (frog and toads) and Gymnophiona (caecilians, which have no legs and resemble large worms).