--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Amphibians are dying out like crazy, and…" description: "\"Amphibians are dying out like crazy, and frogs and salamanders may be largely extinct by the end of the twenty-first century. Imagine an animal that be..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fff/annalee-newitz-8659_amphibians_amphibians-are-dying-out-like-crazy-and_116853.jpg" --- # Amphibians are dying out like crazy, and frogs and… ![“Amphibians are dying out like crazy, and frogs and salamanders may be largely extinct by the end of the twenty-first century. Imagine an animal that begins its life in the water, but ends it on land - already, that's pretty weird. But, also, a lot of them are incredibly tiny and look wildly…” quote by Annalee Newitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fff/annalee-newitz-8659_amphibians_amphibians-are-dying-out-like-crazy-and_116853.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fff/annalee-newitz-8659_amphibians_amphibians-are-dying-out-like-crazy-and_116853.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fff/annalee-newitz-8659_amphibians_amphibians-are-dying-out-like-crazy-and_116853.jpg) > “Amphibians are dying out like crazy, and frogs and salamanders may be largely extinct by the end of the twenty-first century. Imagine an animal that begins its life in the water, but ends it on land - already, that's pretty weird. But, also, a lot of them are incredibly tiny and look wildly improbable. They have funny little toes, they stretch their throats into weird bubble shapes when they croak, and some of them are poisonous to the touch. I think kids from the twenty-second century might mythologize amphibians the way kids today mythologize dinosaurs.” [Annalee Newitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annalee-newitz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Amphibians face catastrophic decline, with many species likely extinct by century’s end, highlighting their ecological uniqueness and future mythic status. **In simple terms:** Frogs and salamanders are disappearing fast, becoming future legends. Key Takeaway Biodiversity loss threatens irreplaceable life forms. Themes conservation biodiversity climate change species extinction future mythology Mood urgency wonder concern Type environmental warning scientific observation When to use this quote - wetland restoration projects - environmental education curricula - citizen science monitoring - policy advocacy for pesticide regulation Key Concepts ecosystem services amphibian life cycles Practical Applications - support habitat protection initiatives - integrate amphibian studies into school science Questions to Reflect On - How can societies value seemingly obscure species? - What actions can individuals take to curb amphibian decline? A Different Perspective Predicting exact extinction dates is uncertain; some resilient populations may persist longer than expected. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Amphibians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amphibians/) [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Dinosaurs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dinosaurs/) [Having fun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/having-fun/) [Improbable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/improbable/) [Kids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kids/) [Salamanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/salamanders/) [Shapes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shapes/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) [Twenties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twenties/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) ## Related quotes > [Many of the medicines we use today, to fight everything from AIDS to cancer, originate as a toxin in an amphibian skin. When we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-corwin/many-of-the-medicines-we-use-today-to-fight-everything-from-aids-to/) [Jeff Corwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-corwin/) > [Reptiles and amphibians are sometimes thought of as primitive, dull and dimwitted. In fact, of course, they can be lethally fast, spectacularly beautiful, surprisingly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-attenborough/reptiles-and-amphibians-are-sometimes-thought-of-as-primitive-dull/) [David Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-attenborough/) > [Moving forward, investigative journalists need to train themselves to be media amphibians - just as comfortable with the classic verities of great journalism as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arianna-huffington/moving-forward-investigative-journalists-need-to-train-themselves-to/) [Arianna Huffington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arianna-huffington/) > [Since the first human eye saw a leaf in Devonian sandstone and a puzzled finger reached to touch it, sadness has lain over the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/since-the-first-human-eye-saw-a-leaf-in-devonian-sandstone-and-a/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [One of the best gifts you can give a poet is to present them with field guides - to rocks, to stars, to birds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marge-piercy/one-of-the-best-gifts-you-can-give-a-poet-is-to-present-them-with/) [Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) > [We are part of nature, a product of a long evolutionary journey. To some degree, we carry the ancient oceans in our blood. ……](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-bookchin/we-are-part-of-nature-a-product-of-a-long-evolutionary-journey-to/) [Murray Bookchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-bookchin/) > [Man is an amphibian who lives simultaneously in two worlds-the given and the home-made, the world of matter, life and consciousness and the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/man-is-an-amphibian-who-lives-simultaneously-in-two-worlds-the-given/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [ \[Alternate translation:\] The Divine Spirit found a sublime outlet in that wonder of analysis, that portent of the ideal world, that amphibian between being… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/alternate-translation-the-divine-spirit-found-a-sublime-outlet-in/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [The pineal gland of evolutionarily older animals, such as lizards and amphibians, is also called the 'third' eye. Just like the two seeing eyes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-strassman/the-pineal-gland-of-evolutionarily-older-animals-such-as-lizards-and/) [Rick Strassman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-strassman/) > [Imaginary numbers are a fine and wonderful refuge of the divine spirit almost an amphibian between being and non-being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/imaginary-numbers-are-a-fine-and-wonderful-refuge-of-the-divine/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [Society's only real 'progressives' are the deviants and mutants. Look at evolution - fish who didn't deviate never became amphibians; frogs who didn't mutate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-goad/society-s-only-real-progressives-are-the-deviants-and-mutants-look-at/) [Jim Goad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-goad/) > [“We don’t sleep to sleep, dammit, any more than we eat to eat . We sleep to dream. We’re amphibians. We live in two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindsay-clarke/we-don-t-sleep-to-sleep-dammit-any-more-than-we-eat-to-eat-we-sleep/) Lindsay Clarke > [The Loch Ness monster doesn't exist either. Loch Ness is just not big enough to hide a thirty foot amphibian or reptile for hundreds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-jones/the-loch-ness-monster-doesn-t-exist-either-loch-ness-is-just-not-big/) [Brian Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-jones/) > [Humans are amphibians - half spirit and half animal. As spirits they belong to the eternal world, but as animals they inhabit time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/humans-are-amphibians-half-spirit-and-half-animal-as-spirits-they/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [“Frau Stöhr found his remarks amphibious and unfeeling.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/frau-st-hr-found-his-remarks-amphibious-and-unfeeling/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) ## More by Annalee Newitz > [“She wasn’t sure which motivation made better fuel for innovation: naïve but ethical beliefs, or the need to survive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annalee-newitz/she-wasn-t-sure-which-motivation-made-better-fuel-for-innovation-na/) [Annalee Newitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annalee-newitz/) > [Humans are a great survivor species but our survival will be pretty grim if all of the plants and animals we depend on die…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annalee-newitz/humans-are-a-great-survivor-species-but-our-survival-will-be-pretty/) [Annalee Newitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annalee-newitz/) > [“It didn’t just boost your concentration. It made you enjoy work. You couldn’t wait to get back to the keyboard, the breadboard, the gesture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annalee-newitz/it-didn-t-just-boost-your-concentration-it-made-you-enjoy-work-you/) [Annalee Newitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annalee-newitz/) > [Survivor species tend to have huge populations, so they can afford to lose many individuals and still survive as a species. They also tend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annalee-newitz/survivor-species-tend-to-have-huge-populations-so-they-can-afford-to/) [Annalee Newitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annalee-newitz/) > [In fact, the early demographer Thomas Malthus believes that the only way the human population would ever check itself was by running headlong into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annalee-newitz/in-fact-the-early-demographer-thomas-malthus-believes-that-the-only/) [Annalee Newitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annalee-newitz/) > [“ For all the robots who question their programming. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annalee-newitz/for-all-the-robots-who-question-their-programming/) [Annalee Newitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annalee-newitz/) > [Obviously it depends on how you define a word like "evolution," because of course we have been evolving - both biologically and culturally -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annalee-newitz/obviously-it-depends-on-how-you-define-a-word-like-evolution-because/) [Annalee Newitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annalee-newitz/) > [I try to be realistic and pragmatic. I have a lot of hope for humanity as a species, but obviously as individuals we can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annalee-newitz/i-try-to-be-realistic-and-pragmatic-i-have-a-lot-of-hope-for-humanity/) [Annalee Newitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annalee-newitz/) > [The fact is that humans have been shaping the genetics of what they eat for thousands of years. Genetic engineering simply speeds up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annalee-newitz/the-fact-is-that-humans-have-been-shaping-the-genetics-of-what-they/) [Annalee Newitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annalee-newitz/) > [In terms of fiction, there are a number of writers who are thinking about the future of the environment whose work complements mine. Kim…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annalee-newitz/in-terms-of-fiction-there-are-a-number-of-writers-who-are-thinking/) [Annalee Newitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annalee-newitz/) > [“As UC Berkeley economics professor Brad DeLong put it to me: You get famine if the price of food spikes far beyond that of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annalee-newitz/as-uc-berkeley-economics-professor-brad-delong-put-it-to-me-you-get/) [Annalee Newitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annalee-newitz/) > [“Plus, it was made by Zaxy, the company behind Smartifex, Brillicent, and other popular work enhancement drugs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annalee-newitz/plus-it-was-made-by-zaxy-the-company-behind-smartifex-brillicent-and/) [Annalee Newitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annalee-newitz/) > [That said, a lot of people buy products with "green" in the brand name, but make no attempt to understand what it would really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annalee-newitz/that-said-a-lot-of-people-buy-products-with-green-in-the-brand-name/) [Annalee Newitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annalee-newitz/) > [“Every master loves to fuck a slave. It is a law of nature, or maybe culture.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annalee-newitz/every-master-loves-to-fuck-a-slave-it-is-a-law-of-nature-or-maybe/) [Annalee Newitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annalee-newitz/) > [“Sequence wants to be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annalee-newitz/sequence-wants-to-be-free/) [Annalee Newitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annalee-newitz/) [Explore all 78 Annalee Newitz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annalee-newitz/) ## More Amphibians quotes > [Many of the medicines we use today, to fight everything from AIDS to cancer, originate as a toxin in an amphibian skin. When we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-corwin/many-of-the-medicines-we-use-today-to-fight-everything-from-aids-to/) [Jeff Corwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-corwin/) > [Humans are amphibians - half spirit and half animal. As spirits they belong to the eternal world, but as animals they inhabit time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/humans-are-amphibians-half-spirit-and-half-animal-as-spirits-they/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [The Loch Ness monster doesn't exist either. Loch Ness is just not big enough to hide a thirty foot amphibian or reptile for hundreds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-jones/the-loch-ness-monster-doesn-t-exist-either-loch-ness-is-just-not-big/) [Brian Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-jones/) > [“We don’t sleep to sleep, dammit, any more than we eat to eat . We sleep to dream. We’re amphibians. We live in two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindsay-clarke/we-don-t-sleep-to-sleep-dammit-any-more-than-we-eat-to-eat-we-sleep/) Lindsay Clarke > [Society's only real 'progressives' are the deviants and mutants. Look at evolution - fish who didn't deviate never became amphibians; frogs who didn't mutate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-goad/society-s-only-real-progressives-are-the-deviants-and-mutants-look-at/) [Jim Goad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-goad/) > [Imaginary numbers are a fine and wonderful refuge of the divine spirit almost an amphibian between being and non-being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/imaginary-numbers-are-a-fine-and-wonderful-refuge-of-the-divine/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [The pineal gland of evolutionarily older animals, such as lizards and amphibians, is also called the 'third' eye. Just like the two seeing eyes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-strassman/the-pineal-gland-of-evolutionarily-older-animals-such-as-lizards-and/) [Rick Strassman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-strassman/) > [ \[Alternate translation:\] The Divine Spirit found a sublime outlet in that wonder of analysis, that portent of the ideal world, that amphibian between being… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/alternate-translation-the-divine-spirit-found-a-sublime-outlet-in/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [Man is an amphibian who lives simultaneously in two worlds-the given and the home-made, the world of matter, life and consciousness and the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/man-is-an-amphibian-who-lives-simultaneously-in-two-worlds-the-given/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [We are part of nature, a product of a long evolutionary journey. To some degree, we carry the ancient oceans in our blood. ……](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-bookchin/we-are-part-of-nature-a-product-of-a-long-evolutionary-journey-to/) [Murray Bookchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-bookchin/) > [One of the best gifts you can give a poet is to present them with field guides - to rocks, to stars, to birds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marge-piercy/one-of-the-best-gifts-you-can-give-a-poet-is-to-present-them-with/) [Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) > [Since the first human eye saw a leaf in Devonian sandstone and a puzzled finger reached to touch it, sadness has lain over the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/since-the-first-human-eye-saw-a-leaf-in-devonian-sandstone-and-a/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [Moving forward, investigative journalists need to train themselves to be media amphibians - just as comfortable with the classic verities of great journalism as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arianna-huffington/moving-forward-investigative-journalists-need-to-train-themselves-to/) [Arianna Huffington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arianna-huffington/) > [Reptiles and amphibians are sometimes thought of as primitive, dull and dimwitted. In fact, of course, they can be lethally fast, spectacularly beautiful, surprisingly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-attenborough/reptiles-and-amphibians-are-sometimes-thought-of-as-primitive-dull/) [David Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-attenborough/) > [“Frau Stöhr found his remarks amphibious and unfeeling.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/frau-st-hr-found-his-remarks-amphibious-and-unfeeling/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) [Browse all 21 Amphibians quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amphibians/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Amphibians are dying out like crazy, and frogs and salamanders may be largely extinct by the end of the twenty-first century. Imagine an animal that begins its life in the water, but ends it on land - already, that's pretty weird. But, also, a lot of them are incredibly tiny and look wildly improbable. 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