Biology:Vulcanobatrachus

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Short description: Extinct genus of amphibians

Vulcanobatrachus
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous
Scientific classification edit
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Genus: Vulcanobatrachus
Species:
V. mandelai
Binomial name
Vulcanobatrachus mandelai
Trueb et al., 2005

Vulcanobatrachus is an extinct genus of fossil frog.[1] The genus contains the single species Vulcanobatrachus mandelai found at Marydale, South Africa, described in 2005 and named after Nelson Mandela.[2] The genus owes its name to the fact that fossils were recovered from an extinct volcanic crater lake of Late Cretaceous age. The fossil frogs are assumed to have died following a limnic eruption (a degassing event possibly of CO2) by the volcano.[2]

The existence of fossil specimens was discovered accidentally in the late 1970s during prospecting of the volcanic kimberlite pipe for diamonds by de Beers Mining Company. Specimens of Vulcanobatrachus mandelai are curated by Iziko South African Museum.[2]

It is a member of the clade Pipimorpha, related to the family Pipidae.[3]

See also

  • Prehistoric amphibian
  • List of prehistoric amphibians

References

  1. "†Vulcanobatrachus Trueb et al. 2005". Paleobiology Database. Fossilworks. http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?a=taxonInfo&taxon_no=68501. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Trueb, Linda; Ross, Callum F.; Smith, Roger (2005). "A new pipoid anuran from the Late Cretaceous of South Africa". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 25 (3): 533–547. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2005)025[0533:ANPAFT2.0.CO;2]. 
  3. Rolando, Alexis M. Aranciaga; Agnolin, Federico L.; Corsolini, Julián (October 2019). "A new pipoid frog (Anura, Pipimorpha) from the Paleogene of Patagonia. Paleobiogeographical implications" (in en). Comptes Rendus Palevol 18 (7): 725–734. doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2019.04.003. 

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