Amphibians are a
class of
cold-bloodedvertebrates, mostly four-limbed. They inhabit a wide variety of
habitats in freshwater, on or under the ground, or in trees. Typically starting their lives as aquatic
larvae with gills, they generally undergo
metamorphosis into adults with air-breathing lungs. They use their skins as a secondary respiratory surface; some small terrestrial
salamanders and frogs lack lungs and rely entirely on their skins. The earliest amphibians
evolved in the
Devonian Period from fish with lungs and bony-limbed fins. The three modern orders of amphibians are
Anura (the frogs and toads),
Caudata (the salamanders), and
Gymnophiona (the caecilians). The number of known species is approximately 7,000, of which nearly 90% are frogs. The
smallest living amphibian is a frog from New Guinea with a length of just 7.7 mm (0.3 in). The largest is the 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)
Chinese giant salamander, but this is dwarfed by the extinct 9 m (30 ft) Prionosuchus from Brazil. With their complex reproductive needs and permeable skins, amphibians are often
indicators of ecological disturbance, and in recent decades their
populations have declined around the globe. (
Full article...)
... that according to
Walter Brasch's 1982 book Columbia County Place Names, some maps list the valley of Davis Hollow(pictured) as being in Fishing Creek Township while others list it as being near Rohrsburg?
... that in reaction to child sexual exploitation cases
in Rochdale and
in Rotherham, police investigated and prosecuted a similar case
in Peterborough?
HMAS Australia was a
County-class heavy cruiser of the
Royal Australian Navy.
Laid down in Scotland in 1925, the ship entered service in 1928. She served predominantly in the South-West Pacific until the beginning of World War II, when she was tasked to the northern Atlantic. In 1942, Australia was reassigned as
flagship of the
ANZAC Squadron, where she supported US naval and amphibious operations throughout South-East Asia. A series of
kamikaze attacks during the
invasion of Lingayen Gulf led to Australia being recalled for repairs in the United Kingdom, where she remained until the end of the war. In her later years, Australia served as part of the
British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan and as a training ship. She was sold for
scrap in 1955.
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