sb. pl. Zool. [prop. batrachīa, mod.L., a. Gr. βατράχεια (sc. ζῷα animals), neut. pl. of βατράχειος, adj. f. βάτραχος frog.] a. One of Brongniart’s four orders of Reptiles, including frogs, toads, newts, salamanders, etc., which have no ribs, and a soft scaleless skin, and breathe by means of gills during the early part, or whole, of their existence. b. By modern zoologists restricted to an order of the class Amphibia, containing those animals only, as frogs and toads, which subsequently discard the gills and tail of their larval state. (The sing. is supplied by BATRACHIAN.)
1848. Carpenter, Zool., § 514. In the PROTEIDÆ, or perennibranchiate Batrachia, the gills remain during the whole of life.
1881. Mivart, in Nature, No. 615. 337. Efts of all kinds, with all frogs and toads … form the class Batrachia.
