Anurans from the Lower Cretaceous Jehol Group of Western Liaoning, China. (original) (raw)
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Fossil frogs (Anura) from Shanwang (Middle Miocene; Shandong Province, China)
Geobios, 2011
The early middle Miocene biota from the Shanwang locality in eastern China is one of the most diverse and well preserved in the world. This overall richness contrasts with its low diversity of anuran amphibians. The most abundant anurans are representatives of the family Ranidae, which remains the dominant group in the extant anuran fauna of China. Besides Rana basaltica Young, some other ranids can be recognised at the locality, and are clearly distinguishable from R. basaltica based on their larger size and different proportions. Ranids are also represented by a developmental series of tadpoles, ranging from approximately Nieuwkoop-Faber (NF) stage 43 to a metamorphosing tadpole of NF stage 57. This is the first known developmental series of fossil non-pipoid Anura outside the Pelobatidae. In addition to the ranids, Bufo shandongensis nov. sp. (replacement name for B. linquensis), represented by one of the earliest known articulated bufonid skeletons, is described and illustrated. Another large toad, Macropelobates linquensis (Yang) nov. comb., is re-described; it can be assigned to the Pelobatoidea, with a possible relationship to the Scaphiopodidae, and can be considered, based on the presence of a large spade, a tibiofibula shorter than the femur, and a short astragalus and calcaneus, to be the earliest known anuran burrower. #
A juvenile anuran from the Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation, Liaoning, China
Cretaceous Research, 2007
A disarticulated partial skeleton of a juvenile anuran is reported from the Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation, Jehol Group, in Liaoning Province, China. The individual has a premaxilla with a tall, wide bifurcate alary process and a well-defined palatine process; a maxilla without pre-or postorbital processes; and no contact between the squamosal and the maxilla. The centra of the presacral vertebrae are notochordal. The urostyle (with transverse processes) and the pelvic girdle are proportionally short, and the hind limbs are long (including proportionally long femur, tibiofibula, and proximal tarsals), and the tibiofibula is considerably longer than the femur. Comparison with other frogs suggests the hindlimb proportions of the Jiufotang frog are similar to those of anurans that are primarily saltatory. Although body proportions and other osteological features distinguish the Jiufotang anuran from other Jehol taxa, its immaturity and fragmentary preservation preclude detailed discussion of its systematic position. Nonetheless, this frog documents not only the first fossil anuran from the Aptian Jiufotang Formation of China, but also the most recent Mesozoic anuran currently known from China.
A new frog (Amphibia: Anura) from the Lower Cretaceous of western Liaoning, China
Cretaceous Research, 2004
Based on a nearly complete skeleton, an archaic frog is described from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation near Yixian, western Liaoning Province, China. The new frog shows several peculiar morphologies including the presence of a co-ossified parahyoid bone with a V-shaped configuration. Such a parahyoid was previously known only for the problematic taxon Neusibatrachus from the Lower Cretaceous of Spain. A phylogenetic analysis was performed with the inclusion of the new taxon and Neusibatrachus. This analysis suggests that the new taxon is a primitive archaeobatrachian closely related to Notobatrachus and Vieraella, while Neusibatrachus is placed as a basal member of the Pipoidea. The suggested relationships of the new frog with South American forms reveal a biogeographic enigma that cannot be resolved until there is more fossil evidence and current phylogenetic hypotheses are further evaluated.
Zoological Journal of the …, 2003
The higher-level relationships of anurans have been explored by numerous studies, producing a variety of hypotheses. The relationships of the basal anurans ('archaeobatrachians') are, however, poorly known. In part, this may be because the adult morphology of basal anurans is derived and therefore may not provide suitable phylogenetic signal. Recently, several authors have shown the phylogenetic utility of information derived from anuran larvae. In this paper we conduct separate and combined analyses of anuran relationships based on adult and larval morphology. Our combined results suggest that anurans form two major cladesthe pipoids and all other frogs. Evidence also suggests that, taken together, Neobatrachia and Pelobatoidea form a monophyletic group. We discuss support for various groupings as shown by the different data sets. We also comment on the consequences of our phylogenetic hypothesis for the interpretation of reduction of vertebral elements and evolution of Orton's tadpole types in anurans.
American Museum Novitates, 2017
Based on 12 well-preserved skeletons of postmetamorphic individuals, a new crown-group frog taxon is named and described from the Lower Cretaceous Guanghua (upper part of Longjiang) Formation (stratigraphic equivalent of the world-famed Yixian Formation) exposed in Dayangshu Basin, Hulunbuir, in the far northeast of Inner Mongolia, China. The new taxon, Genibatrachus baoshanensis, documents another Early Cretaceous anuran having reduction of the presacral vertebrae to eight in number, similar to several frog taxa of roughly the same age from Spain and Brazil. The new frog also displays several features that are ontogenetically and phylogenetically informative, including ontogenetic fusion of the palatine to the sphenethmoid, and ontogenetic fusion of ribs to the diapophyses of the posterior trunk vertebrae. In addition, the new discovery extends the geographic range of Early Cretaceous frogs of the Jehol Biota northward to near the 50th parallel north in East Asia.
A juvenile frog from the Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation Liaoning, China
A disarticulated partial skeleton of a juvenile anuran is reported from the Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation, Jehol Group, in Liaoning Province, China. The individual has a premaxilla with a tall, wide bifurcate alary process and a well-defined palatine process; a maxilla without pre-or postorbital processes; and no contact between the squamosal and the maxilla. The centra of the presacral vertebrae are notochordal. The urostyle (with transverse processes) and the pelvic girdle are proportionally short, and the hind limbs are long (including proportionally long femur, tibiofibula, and proximal tarsals), and the tibiofibula is considerably longer than the femur. Comparison with other frogs suggests the hindlimb proportions of the Jiufotang frog are similar to those of anurans that are primarily saltatory. Although body proportions and other osteological features distinguish the Jiufotang anuran from other Jehol taxa, its immaturity and fragmentary preservation preclude detailed discussion of its systematic position. Nonetheless, this frog documents not only the first fossil anuran from the Aptian Jiufotang Formation of China, but also the most recent Mesozoic anuran currently known from China.
Frontoparietal Bone in Extinct Palaeobatrachidae (Anura): Its Variation and Taxonomic Value
The Anatomical Record, 2015
Palaeobatrachidae are extinct frogs from Europe closely related to the Gondwanan Pipidae, which includes Xenopus. Their frontoparietal is a distinctive skeletal element which has served as a basis for establishing the genus Albionbatrachus. Because little was known about developmental and individual variation of the frontoparietal, and its usefulness in delimiting genera and species has sometimes been doubted, we investigate its structure in Palaeobatrachus and Albionbatrachus by means of Abbreviations used: DP FNSP 5
Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research, 2014
There are few systematic studies based on internal buccal and larval cranium morphology of anuran tadpoles. Here we hypothesized phylogenetic relationships of frogs of the Leptodactylus genus with 84 internal larval characters, where 63 of them were described for the first time. We recovered Leptodactylus as monophyletic with two major clades. A similar topological arrangement was found by combining the larval with 98 adult morphology characters. PBS analysis revealed that the two data sets contributed differentially to establish major clades of Leptodactylus in the overall tree. This result was corroborated by the IDL test, which also indicated incongruences between data sets. Together with an overview of internal larval descriptions and discussions about the performance of these characters to reconstruct the phylogeny of Leptodactylus (i.e. homologies and homoplasies), we also provided information regarding intraspecific and populational variation found among the morphologies of the tadpoles sampled.