Albanerpeton
Albanerpeton Temporal range:
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Albanerpeton inexpectatum | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Amphibia |
Order: | †Allocaudata |
Family: | †Albanerpetontidae |
Genus: | †Albanerpeton Estes and Hoffstetter, 1976 |
Species | |
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Albanerpeton is an
History and Discovery
Albanerpeton was first described by Estes and Hoffstetter in 1976. However, the genus was re-described by Gardner in 1999 after a large collection of jaws and frontals from
Evolutionary history
The oldest species of Albanerpeton as usually defined are known from the late Early Cretaceous of North America. During the Late Cretaceous, Albanerpeton was widespread in North America, as well as in Europe (and was present in Asia if remains from the Khodzhakul Formation in Uzbekistan are included). The youngest remains of the species in North America are known from the Paskapoo Formation in Canada, dating to the Paleocene.[1] The Cenozoic record of Albanerpeton is largely confined to Europe, spanning from the Oligocene to the final records of the group in the Early Pleistocene of Italy, around 2.13-2 million years ago.[1][2] Fossils are also known from the Oligocene of Anatolia in Asia.[9]
Ecology
Albanerpeton is suggested to have had a preference for moist environments.[1] Albanerpetontids are proposed to have been sit-and wait predators that fed on invertebrates via the use of a ballistic tongue similar to that used by chameleons and plethodontid salamanders.[5]
Description
Albanerpeton are distinct from
Dentition
Albanerpeton teeth are about one-third of the distance from the anterior end of the tooth row, and these are markedly larger than other nearby teeth. Additionally, the dorsal edge of the dental boundary is curved on its lingual side.[10]
Skull
In 2013, Maddin et al. created a computer-generated tomography of a partially preserved, three-dimensional A. pannonicum neurocranium which deposited during the
Albanerpeton have ossified
Classification
Current accepted species:
Genus Albanerpeton Estes & Hoffstetter 1976
- Albanerpeton arthridion Fox & Naylor 1982 Early Cretaceous, United States
- Albanerpeton ektopistikon Carrano et al. 2022 Early Cretaceous, North America
- Clade "Gracile-snouted"
- Albanerpeton gracilis Gardner 2000 Late Cretaceous, North America
- Albanerpeton cifellii Gardner 1999 Late Cretaceous, United States
- Albanerpeton galaktion Fox & Naylor 1982 Late Cretaceous, North America
- Clade "Robust-snouted"
- Albanerpeton nexuosus Estes 1981 Late Cretaceous, North America
- Albanerpeton pannonicus Venczel & Gardner 2005 Latest Miocene-Early Pleistocene Hungary, Italy
- Albanerpeton inexpectatum Estes & Hoffstetter 1976 Early Oligocene-Late Miocene, Europe
The genus Albanerpeton is part of the family Albanerpetontidae which is part of the order Allocaudata within superorder Batrachia and class Amphibia. Members of genus Albanerpeton are considered to be Lissamphibia who are distinct in character from frogs, salamanders, and caecilians. In 2018, a closely related species, named Shirepeton isajii, was discovered and described in the Kuwajima Formation of Japan. While it is closely related to members of Albanerpeton, it does not fall within the clade.
Cladogram from Venczel and Gardner (2005):[14]
Albanerpetontidae |
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In 2020 it was found that Albanerpeton is paraphyletic with respect to Shirerpeton and Yaksha, and it has been suggested that Albanerpeton be restricted to the Cenozoic species, with the Cretaceous species being given separate genera.[5]
Cladogram from Daza et al. (2020)
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Finally, with the description of Albanerpeton ektopistikon by Carrano et al. (2022), based on the data matrix from the 2018 description of Shirepeton isajii, also recovered Albanerpeton as a paraphyletic genus, further separated than in Daza et al., (2020). Instead of restricting Albanerpeton, they provisionally suggested to include Shirerpeton and Wesserpeton into the genus, turning their type species into A. isajii and A. evansae, respectively, though they also suggested that the genus could be split into separate genera. Cladogram from Carrano et al. (2022):[1]
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References
- ^ S2CID 247335328.
- ^ ISSN 0031-0182.
- S2CID 257316502.
- ^ PMID 29298317.
- ^ S2CID 226254862.
- ^ ISSN 0753-3969.
- ^ ISSN 0008-4077.
- ^ S2CID 85973223.
- .
- ^ a b c d Gardner, James (2000). "Albanerpetontid Amphibians from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian and maastrichtian) of North America". Geodiversitas. 22:3: 349–388.
- ISSN 1475-4983.
- ^ S2CID 85725338.
- PMID 29298317.
- S2CID 129278983.
Further reading
- Delfino, M. and Sala, B. 2007. Late Pliocene Albanerpetontidae (Lissamphibia) from Italy. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27(3):716–719
- Fossil Salamanders of North America (Life of the Past) by J. Alan Holman