Amphibians are tetrapods (Gr. tetra, four + l)oclos, foot). The name is derived from
the presence of four muscular limbs and feet with toes and fngers (digits). Some zoologists
use t e term "Tetrapoda" to formally refer to all sarcopterygian descendants that pos-
sess well-formed forelimbs and hindlimbs. Other zoologists reserve the term tetrapod for
“crown-group animals." The tetrapod crown group includes the extant (living) tetrapods
plus their most recent common ancestor. Tetrapod, in this sense, refers to living amphib-
ians (often called Lissamphibia [lis'am-fib'e-ah]), the reptiles, birds, and mammals, and
the common ancestor of these groups. A host of extinct¨stem tetrapods" is excluded from
this use of the term“Tetrapoda." The term“Stegocephalia" is an older term that has been
redefined to refer to the clade that includes the Tetrapoda and their four-legged relatives.