Biology:Triadobatrachus
| Triadobatrachus | |
|---|---|
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| Slabs of the fossil | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Genus: | †Triadobatrachus Kuhn, 1962 |
| Species: | †T. massinoti
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| Binomial name | |
| †Triadobatrachus massinoti (Piveteau, 1936)
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Triadobatrachus is an extinct genus of salientian frog-like amphibians, including only one known species, Triadobatrachus massinoti. It is the oldest member of the frog lineage known, and an excellent example of a transitional fossil. It lived during the Early Triassic about 250 million years ago, in what is now Madagascar .
Triadobatrachus was 10 cm (3.9 in) long, and still retained many primitive characteristics, such as possessing at least 26 vertebrae, where modern frogs have only four to nine. At least 10 of these vertebrae formed a short tail, which the animal may have retained as an adult.[1] It probably swam by kicking its hind legs, although it could not jump, as most modern frogs can. Its skull resembled that of modern frogs, consisting of a latticework of thin bones separated by large openings.[2]
This creature, or a relative, evolved eventually into modern frogs, the earliest example of which is Prosalirus, millions of years later in the Early Jurassic.[3]
Although it was found in marine deposits, the general structure of Triadobatrachus shows that it probably lived for part of the time on land and breathed air. Its proximity to the mainland is further borne out by the remains of terrestrial plants found with it, and because most extant amphibians do not tolerate saltwater,[4] and that this saltwater intolerance was probably present in the earliest lissamphibians.[5]
Gallery
CT-scan
Diagram
Cast
Life restoration by N. Tamura
References
- ↑ Ascarrunz, Eduardo; Rage, Jean-Claude; Legreneur, Pierre; Laurin, Michel (2016). "Triadobatrachus massinoti, the earliest known lissamphibian (Vertebrata: Tetrapoda) re-examined by µCT-Scan, and the evolution of trunk length in batrachians". Contributions to Zoology 58 (2): 201–234. doi:10.1163/18759866-08502004. http://repository.naturalis.nl/cgi/b/bib/bib-idx?c=naturalis;type=simple;view=reslist;fmt=long;rgn1=id;q1=oai%3AARNO%3A610011;lang=en;sort=year;cc=naturalis;page=reslist;size=1;start=1.
- ↑ Palmer, D., ed (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 56. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
- ↑ Rocek, Z. (2000). "14. Mesozoic Amphibians". in Heatwole, H.; Carroll, R. L.. Amphibian Biology. Paleontology: The Evolutionary History of Amphibians. 4. Surrey Beatty & Sons. pp. 1295–1331. ISBN 0-949324-87-6. http://rocek.gli.cas.cz/Reprints/AmphBiol3.pdf.
- ↑ Hopkins, G. R.; Brodie Jr, E. D. (2015). "Occurrence of Amphibians in Saline Habitats: A Review and Evolutionary Perspective". Herpetological Monographs 29 (1): 1–27. doi:10.1655/herpmonographs-d-14-00006. http://www.hljournals.org/doi/abs/10.1655/HERPMONOGRAPHS-D-14-00006.
- ↑ Laurin, Michel; Soler-Gijón, Rodrigo (2010). "Osmotic tolerance and habitat of early stegocephalians: indirect evidence from parsimony, taphonomy, paleobiogeography, physiology and morphology". Geological Society of London, Special Publications 339: 151–179. doi:10.1144/sp339.13. http://sp.lyellcollection.org/content/339/1/151.short.
- Benes, Josef. Prehistoric Animals and Plants. Pg. 114. Prague: Artia, 1979.
Wikidata ☰ Q134290 entry
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