Albanerpetontidae
Albanerpetontidae Temporal range: Middle Jurassic – Pleistocene
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Fossil of Celtedens ibericus, showing the remains of scales surrounding the body in grey | |
Skull of Yaksha peretti | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Amphibia |
Order: | †Allocaudata Fox and Naylor, 1982 |
Family: | †Albanerpetontidae Fox and Naylor, 1982 |
Genera
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Synonyms | |
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The Albanerpetontidae (also spelled Albanerpetidae and Albanerpetonidae) are an
History of research
The earliest specimen of an albanerpetontid to be discovered was that of
Description
Albanerpetontids were small (several cm to several tens of centimetres in length) and superficially lizard-like. The skin of albanerpetontids was embedded with bony, fish like scales. The forelimbs only had 4
Paleobiology
The morphology of albanerpetontids suggests that they were sit-and-wait terrestrial predators and fed on invertebrates, similar to living plethodontids. The fact that the skull of the juvenile paratype of Yaksha was around 1/4 of the size of the adult suggests that albanerpetontids grew by direct development and did not have a
Distribution
The distribution of albanerpetontids is largely confined to Eurasia and North America, with remains also known from Morocco in North Africa.[12][13] The first albanerpetontids are known from the western Palearctic (Europe and North Africa) in the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian ~168–166 million years ago), with the oldest records of the group in North America and Asia dating to the Early Cretaceous. The last known remains of albanerpetontids in North America are from the Paskapoo Formation in Canada, dating to the Paleocene. All other Cenozoic members of the family, belonging to the genus Albanerpeton, are known from Europe and Anatolia, from the Oligocene onwards (there is no fossil record of albanerpetontids during the Eocene) until their final appearance in Northern Italy during the Early Pleistocene, around 2.13-2 million years ago.[13][14][15][8] Another possible late record is known from northern Spain, dating to around 2.2-2.6 million years ago.[16]
Classification
Albanerpetontids were long thought to be salamanders because of their small size and generalized body plans.
Taxonomy
- Genus Shirerpeton Matsumoto & Evans, 2018[8]
- Shirerpeton isajii Matsumoto & Evans, 2018 Early Cretaceous, Japan
- Genus Wesserpeton Sweetman & Gardner 2013
- Wesserpeton evansae Sweetman & Gardner 2013 Early Cretaceous, United Kingdom
- Genus Anoualerpeton Gardner, Evans & Sigogneau-Russell 2003
- Anoualerpeton priscus Gardner, Evans & Sigogneau-Russell 2003 Middle Jurassic, United Kingdom
- Anoualerpeton unicus Gardner, Evans & Sigogneau-Russell 2003 Late Jurassic, Morocco
- Genus Celtedens McGowan & Evans 1995 Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous, Europe
- Celtedens megacephalus (Costa 1864) Early Cretaceous, Italy, United Kingdom
- Celtedens ibericus McGowan & Evans 1995 Early Cretaceous, Spain
- Genus Albanerpeton Estes & Hoffstetter 1976
- Albanerpeton arthridion Fox & Naylor 1982 Early Cretaceous, United States
- Albanerpeton ektopistikon Carrano et al. 2022 Early Cretaceous, United States
- 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
- Genus Yaksha Daza et al, 2020
- Yaksha perettii Daza et al, 2020 Late Cretaceous, Myanmar
- Fragmentary remains of albanerpetontids are also known from the Bathonian aged Anoual Formation of Morocco,[22] the Bathonian aged Aveyron locality of France,[8][23] the Tithonian aged Chassiron locality of France,[24] the Berriasian aged Cherves-de-Cognac locality and Angeac-Charente bonebed of France,[25] the Cenomanian-Turonian Khodzhakul and Bissekty Formations of Uzbekistan, originally assigned to the dubious genus Nukusurus[26] and a variety of localities in Europe dating to the Late Cretaceous, including Hungary (Csehbánya Formation), France, Spain and Romania (Hațeg Island), which may be referrable to Albanerpeton.[27][10]
Phylogeny
From Daza et al 2020.[6]
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References
- ^ O. G. Costa. 1864. Paleontologia del Regno di Napoli. Parte III [Paleontology of the Kingdom of Naples. Part III]. Atti dell'Accademia Pontaniana 8:1–192
- S2CID 4165755.
- OCLC 670082421.
- ^ R. Estes and R. Hoffstetter. 1976. Les urodèles du Miocène de La Grive-Saint-Alban (Isère, France) [The urodeles from the Miocene of La Grive-Saint-Alban (Isère, France)]. Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Sciences de la Terre 57:297–343
- ISSN 0008-4077.
- ^ S2CID 226254862.
- ISSN 1096-3642.
- ^ PMID 29298317.
- S2CID 234075025.
- ^ ISSN 0272-4634.
- ISSN 0891-2963.
- ^ Gardner, J.D.; Böhme, M. (2008). Sankey, J.T.; Baszio, S. (eds.). Vertebrate Microfossil Assemblages: Their Role in Paleoecology and Paleobiogeography (PDF). Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. pp. 178–218. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
- ^ ISSN 0031-0182.
- S2CID 259661844.
- .
- S2CID 257316502.
- ^ Duellman, W.E. & Trueb, L. (1994): Biology of amphibians. The Johns Hopkins University Press
- ^ Wesserpeton evansae: making 'albanerpetontid' a household name
- .
- PMID 30631641.
- S2CID 256272986.
- ISSN 1342-937X.
- ^ Seiffert J. Urodelan atlas aus dem obersten Bajocien von S.E. Aveyron (Südfrankreich). Palaontol Z. 1969;43:32–6.
- .
- ^ Ronan Allain, Romain Vullo, Lee Rozada, Jérémy Anquetin, Renaud Bourgeais, et al.. Vertebrate paleobiodiversity of the Early Cretaceous (Berriasian) Angeac-Charente Lagerstätte (southwestern France): implications for continental faunal turnover at the J/K boundary. Geodiversitas, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle Paris, In press. ffhal-03264773f
- S2CID 140159226.
- PMID 25610343.