Their eggs then lie dry in the ground for sometimes six months, until the next rain returns when their short life cycle begins again. Amphibians are animals with moist, hairless skin which water passes through, both in and out. Almost every amphibian lives the first part of its life in the water, emerging to live the remainder of life on dry land, but usually in or near water still. Amphibians were the first vertebrates to adapt to life on land. Amphibians live everywhere on Earth save Antarctica with the most widespread being frogs, which can be found almost everywhere except a few islands, and the driest of deserts.
Salamanders inhabit the western hemisphere from North America to the northern part of South America.
They're also found in Europe, the Mediterranean area, Asia, and Africa. Caecilians, wormlike amphibians lacking legs, are more limited in their range, found in Central and South America, parts of Southeast Asia, and from India and Sri Lanka to the Philippines. Amphibians inhabit many different ecosystems, including grasslands, rain forests, alpine areas and conifer forests, even deserts, although most need freshwater habitats such as swamps and streams, or other wet environments for breeding. Invertebrates are the majority of the animal kingdom. Deep-sea collecting techniques show enormous biodiversity on the ocean floors, comprised mostly of invertebrates numbering in the tens of millions.