Abstract:The frog clade Neobatrachia or "advanced frogs" represents more than 95% of the diversity within Anura. The neobatrachian fossil record is incomplete due to the small size and fragile nature of their bones but provides some clues on the time and rate of the current diversifi cation of modern-day amphibians. The Crato Formation (Aptian) of northeastern Brazil is known for the presence of, at least, fi ve species of neobatrachian fossils. Herein, we describe a well-preserved fossil that represents a new neobatra… Show more
“…Neobatrachians are known in the fossil record during the Late Cretaceous from three main locations: Madagascar (Maastrichtian; Evans et al, 2014 ), Europe (Campanian; Venczel, Szentesi & Gardner, 2021 ), and South America (Maastrichtian; Báez & Gómez, 2018 ). The South American fossil record is of particular importance with numerous taxa known from articulated specimens ( Báez, Moura & Gómez, 2009 ; Báez & Gómez, 2018 ; Agnolin et al, 2020 ; Moura et al, 2021 ). In contrast, only fragmentary remains of two taxa have been recovered from Madagascar and Europe ( Evans, Jones & Krause, 2008 ; Evans et al, 2014 ; Venczel, Szentesi & Gardner, 2021 ).…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The oldest occurrence of the Neobatrachia is from the Brazilian Crato Formation ( Leal & Brito, 2006 ; Báez, Moura & Gómez, 2009 ; Agnolin et al, 2020 ; Moura et al, 2021 ), which preserves extinct anurans from the Aptian (Early Cretaceous). However, Cretadhefdaa is still the oldest occurrence of Neobatrachia outside of South America.…”
Neobatrachia, a clade representing the majority of extant anuran diversity, is thought to have emerged and diversified during the Cretaceous. Most of the early diversification of neobatrachians occurred in southern Gondwana, especially the regions that are today South America and Africa. Whereas five extinct neobatrachians have been described from the Cretaceous of South America in the last decade, only one is known from Africa. This difference in the known extinct diversity is linked to the lack of well-preserved specimens, understudy of fragmentary remains, and lack of known Cretaceous sites in Africa. Study of fragmentary anuran remains from Africa could allow for the identification of previously unknown neobatrachians, allowing for a better understanding of their early diversification. We reanalysed several previously described anuran specimens from the well-known Kem Kem beds, including using CT-scanning. Through our osteological study, we determined that several cranial bones and vertebrae represent a new hyperossified taxon for which we provide a formal description. Comparison to other hyperossified anurans revealed similarities and affinity of this new taxon with the neobatrachians Beelzebufo (extinct) and Ceratophrys (extant). Phylogenetic analyses supported this affinity, placing the new taxon within Neobatrachia in an unresolved clade of Ceratophryidae. This taxon is the oldest neobatrachian from Africa, and reveals that neobatrachians were already widespread throughout southern Gondwana during the earliest Late Cretaceous.
“…Neobatrachians are known in the fossil record during the Late Cretaceous from three main locations: Madagascar (Maastrichtian; Evans et al, 2014 ), Europe (Campanian; Venczel, Szentesi & Gardner, 2021 ), and South America (Maastrichtian; Báez & Gómez, 2018 ). The South American fossil record is of particular importance with numerous taxa known from articulated specimens ( Báez, Moura & Gómez, 2009 ; Báez & Gómez, 2018 ; Agnolin et al, 2020 ; Moura et al, 2021 ). In contrast, only fragmentary remains of two taxa have been recovered from Madagascar and Europe ( Evans, Jones & Krause, 2008 ; Evans et al, 2014 ; Venczel, Szentesi & Gardner, 2021 ).…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The oldest occurrence of the Neobatrachia is from the Brazilian Crato Formation ( Leal & Brito, 2006 ; Báez, Moura & Gómez, 2009 ; Agnolin et al, 2020 ; Moura et al, 2021 ), which preserves extinct anurans from the Aptian (Early Cretaceous). However, Cretadhefdaa is still the oldest occurrence of Neobatrachia outside of South America.…”
Neobatrachia, a clade representing the majority of extant anuran diversity, is thought to have emerged and diversified during the Cretaceous. Most of the early diversification of neobatrachians occurred in southern Gondwana, especially the regions that are today South America and Africa. Whereas five extinct neobatrachians have been described from the Cretaceous of South America in the last decade, only one is known from Africa. This difference in the known extinct diversity is linked to the lack of well-preserved specimens, understudy of fragmentary remains, and lack of known Cretaceous sites in Africa. Study of fragmentary anuran remains from Africa could allow for the identification of previously unknown neobatrachians, allowing for a better understanding of their early diversification. We reanalysed several previously described anuran specimens from the well-known Kem Kem beds, including using CT-scanning. Through our osteological study, we determined that several cranial bones and vertebrae represent a new hyperossified taxon for which we provide a formal description. Comparison to other hyperossified anurans revealed similarities and affinity of this new taxon with the neobatrachians Beelzebufo (extinct) and Ceratophrys (extant). Phylogenetic analyses supported this affinity, placing the new taxon within Neobatrachia in an unresolved clade of Ceratophryidae. This taxon is the oldest neobatrachian from Africa, and reveals that neobatrachians were already widespread throughout southern Gondwana during the earliest Late Cretaceous.
“…Due to our limited sampling of extant Calyptocephalellidae however, the addition of this taxon dramatically imbalances range reconstruction. To correct for this and account for the ancient known history of calyptocephalellids in South America (Moura et al 2021; we included two additional South American fossil taxa, one younger-Calyptocephalella canqueli In addition to the origins of Australian frogs we were interested in identifying how pelodryadids arrived in Australia. Specifically we aimed to test if they arrived via dispersal through Antarctica or overwater dispersal from South America.…”
The Australian continent’s size and isolation make it an ideal place for studying the accumulation and evolution of biodiversity. Long separated from the ancient supercontinent Gondwana, most of Australia’s plants and animals are unique and endemic, including the continent’s frogs. Australian frogs comprise a remarkable ecological and morphological diversity categorized into a small number of distantly related radiations. We present a phylogenomic hypothesis based on an exon-capture dataset that spans the main clades of Australian myobatrachoid, pelodryadid hyloid, and microhylid frogs. Our time-calibrated phylogenomic-scale phylogeny identifies great disparity in the relative ages of these groups which vary from Gondwanan relics to recent immigrants from Asia and include arguably the continent’s oldest living vertebrate radiation. This age stratification provides insight into the colonization of, and diversification on, the Australian continent through deep time, during periods of dramatic climatic and community changes. Contemporary Australian frog diversity highlights the adaptive capacity of anurans, particularly in response to heat and aridity, and explains why they are one of the continent’s most visible faunas.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.