Callobatrachus
| Callobatrachus Temporal range: Early Cretaceous,
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| Genus: | Callobatrachus Wang & Gao, 1999
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Callobatrachus is an extinct genus of discoglossid anuran amphibian from the Early Cretaceous-age Yixian Formation of Liaoning, China.[1] It was described in 1999 by K. Gao of the American Museum of Natural History and Y. Wang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.[2] The discovery is notable for documenting the earliest and sole definite discoglossid fossil from the Mesozoic. Callobatrachus is considered to be the most basal member of Discoglossidae based on phylogenetic analysis.[1]
As frogs are rarely found as articulated skeletons in the fossil record, the discovery of this new taxon has provided important insight into anuran evolution. For the past 50 years the primitive discoglossid genus Eodiscoglossus of early Cretaceous Spain represented the most primitive discoglossid, but Callobatrachus is now shown to precede it phylogenetically.[3]
References
- ^ a b Yuan, W.; Keqin, G.; Xing, X. (2000). "Early evolution of discoglossid frogs: new evidence from the Mesozoic of China". Naturwissenschaften. 87: 417–420.
- ^ Gao, Ke-Qin; Wang, Yuan (1999). "Earliest Asian discoglossid frog from western Liaoning". Chin Sci Bull. 44: 636–642.
- ^ Pan, Gu (1999). "New advance in fossil anuran study". Chinese Science Bulletin. 44(7): 589.
See also
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