Academic literature on the topic 'Palaeobatrachidae'

Skeletons and tadpoles of Anura belonging to the palaeobatrachids have been collected in the freshwater Early Oligocene sediments of the “Pirin” Mine, near the village of Brezhani, southwestern Bulgaria. Skeletons of cyprinid fishes are also present in the same bituminous argillite. The anatomical study of the palaeobatrachid skeletons has shown that they should be determined as Palaeobatrachus cf. grandipes (Giebel). This new find extends the geographical distribution of this species and of the family Palaeobatrachidae to the southeastern Europe.

BackgroundThe present-day amphibian and reptile fauna of Western Siberia are the least diverse of the Palaearctic Realm, as a consequence of the unfavourable climatic conditions that predominate in this region. The origin and emergence of these herpetofaunal groups are poorly understood. Aside from the better-explored European Neogene localities yielding amphibian and reptile fossil remains, the Neogene herpetofauna of Western Asia is understudied. The few available data need critical reviews and new interpretations, taking into account the more recent records of the European herpetofauna. The comparison of this previous data with that of European fossil records would provide data on palaeobiogeographic affiliations of the region as well as on the origin and emergence of the present-day fauna of Western Siberia. An overview of the earliest occurrences of certain amphibian lineages is still needed. In addition, studies that address such knowledge gaps can be useful for molecular biologists in their calibration of molecular clocks.Methods and ResultsIn this study, we considered critically reviewed available data from amphibian and reptile fauna from over 40 Western Siberian, Russian and Northeastern Kazakhstan localities, ranging from the Middle Miocene to Early Pleistocene. Herein, we provided new interpretations that arose from our assessment of the previously published and new data. More than 50 amphibians and reptile taxa were identified belonging to families Hynobiidae, Cryptobranchidae, Salamandridae, Palaeobatrachidae, Bombinatoridae, Pelobatidae, Hylidae, Bufonidae, Ranidae, Gekkonidae, Lacertidae, and Emydidae. Palaeobiogeographic analyses were performed for these groups and palaeoprecipitation values were estimated for 12 localities, using the bioclimatic analysis of herpetofaunal assemblages.ConclusionThe Neogene assemblage of Western Siberia was found to be dominated by groups of European affinities, such as Palaeobatrachidae,Bombina, Hyla,Bufo bufo, and a small part of this assemblage included Eastern Palaearctic taxa (e.g.Salamandrella,Tylototriton,Bufotes viridis). For several taxa (e.g.Mioproteus, Hyla, Bombina,Rana temporaria), the Western Siberian occurrences represented their most eastern Eurasian records. The most diverse collection of fossil remains was found in the Middle Miocene. Less diversity has been registered towards the Early Pleistocene, potentially due to the progressive cooling of the climate in the Northern Hemisphere. The results of our study showed higher-amplitude changes of precipitation development in Western Siberia from the Early Miocene to the Pliocene, than previously assumed.

This study presents for the first time summarized data on 759 species/taxa (628 species at least) of six classes of Quaternary vertebrates of Bulgaria: Chondrichthyes (1); Actinopterygii (34); Amphibia (18); Reptilia (33); Aves (299); and Mammalia (374). The richest fauna has been recorded in the Late Pleistocene (285 species), followed by the Calabrian (255). Bulgaria has lost 32.3% of its former total Quaternary vertebrate fauna. The number of the lost taxa is as follows: species (245), genera (80), families (16), orders (5), of them three mammalian (Perissodactyla, Proboscidea, and Primates), and two avian (Otidiformes and Pteroclidiformes). Extinct families are: one amphibian (Palaeobatrachidae); two reptilian (Varanidae and Elapidae); three avian (Gruidae, Otididae, and Pteroclididae), and ten mammalian (Dipodidae, Eomyidae, Hystricidae, Ochotonidae, Hyaenidae, Phocidae, Equidae, Rhinocerotidae, Elephantidae, and Cercopithecidae). After the small mammals (mainly Cricetidae; 52 taxa), the composition of bovids (27 taxa) and canids (13 taxa) impoverished in a higher extent. The biggest number of recorded vertebrate families is found in the Meghalayan (79), followed by the Greenlandian (63) and the Late Pleistocene (62). At order and family levels, the most varied was the vertebrate fauna in the Meghalayan (39 orders, 79 families). In the Calabrian, the number of genera was a three times greater than in the Northgrippian, which indicates more diversified paleoenvironment. One genus, 25 species, and one subspecies have been described as new to the science from the Quaternary localities in Bulgaria.

This study presents for the first time summarized data on 759 species/taxa (628 species at least) of six classes of Quaternary vertebrates of Bulgaria: Chondrichthyes (1); Actinopterygii (34); Amphibia (18); Reptilia (33); Aves (299); and Mammalia (374). The richest fauna has been recorded in the Late Pleistocene (285 species), followed by the Calabrian (255). Bulgaria has lost 32.3% of its former total Quaternary vertebrate fauna. The number of the lost taxa is as follows: species (245), genera (80), families (16), orders (5), of them three mammalian (Perissodactyla, Proboscidea, and Primates), and two avian (Otidiformes and Pteroclidiformes). Extinct families are: one amphibian (Palaeobatrachidae); two reptilian (Varanidae and Elapidae); three avian (Gruidae, Otididae, and Pteroclididae), and ten mammalian (Dipodidae, Eomyidae, Hystricidae, Ochotonidae, Hyaenidae, Phocidae, Equidae, Rhinocerotidae, Elephantidae, and Cercopithecidae). After the small mammals (mainly Cricetidae; 52 taxa), the composition of bovids (27 taxa) and canids (13 taxa) impoverished in a higher extent. The biggest number of recorded vertebrate families is found in the Meghalayan (79), followed by the Greenlandian (63) and the Late Pleistocene (62). At order and family levels, the most varied was the vertebrate fauna in the Meghalayan (39 orders, 79 families). In the Calabrian, the number of genera was a three times greater than in the Northgrippian, which indicates more diversified paleoenvironment. One genus, 25 species, and one subspecies have been described as new to the science from the Quaternary localities in Bulgaria.

Roček, Zbyněk (2016): "Lost" And Rediscovered: Holotype Of Palaeobatrachus Diluvianus (Goldfuss, 1831). Fossil Imprint 72 (1-2): 45-52, DOI: 10.14446/FI.2016.45, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14446/fi.2016.45

Abstract The continental tetrapod assemblages from the Santonian-Maastrichtian of Europe consist of dinosaurs (theropods: Abelisauroidea, Alvarezsauridae, Dromaeosauridae, ?Oviraptorosauria, ?Troodontidae, and birds: Enantiornithes, basal Ornithurae; sauropods: Titanosauria; ankylosaurs: Nodosauridae; ornithopods: Hadrosauridae, Rhabdodontidae; and neoceratopsians), pterosaurs (Azhdarchidae), crocodyliforms (eusuchians: Alligatoroidea, Gavialoidea, ?Hylaeochampsidae; sebecosuchian-like ziphosuchians; and, probably, basal neosuchians), choristoderes (?Champsosauridae), squamates (lacertilians: Iguanidae s.l., Paramacellodidae, Polyglyphanodontinae, Varanoidea; snakes: Madtsoiidae; possible amphisbaenians), turtles (cryptodires: Chelydroidea, Kallokibotionidae, Solemydidae; pleurodires: Bothremydidae, Dortokidae), lissamphibians (Albanerpetontidae; anurans: Discoglossidae, Palaeobatrachidae; caudates: Batrachosauroididae, Salamandridae), and mammals (multituberculates: Kogaionidae, ?“Paracimexomys group”; marsupials: Herpetotheriidae; eutherians: “Zhelestidae”). The palaeobiogeographical affinities of the Late Cretaceous continental tetrapods of Europe are complex. The faunas are commonly considered to show a mixed pattern resulting from the addition of “Asiamerican” and Gondwanan forms to European taxa. Albanerpetontids, both paramacellodid and polyglyphonodontine lizards, and hadrosaurid dinosaurs are taxa with Palaeolaurasian (or, in some case, even Neopangean) affinities. Other forms, such as paleobatrachid and batrachosauroidid lissamphibians, solemydid turtles, alligatoroid crocodyliforms, and nodosaurid dinosaurs can be considered as Euramerican taxa. Kallokibotionid and dortokid turtles, rhabdodontid dinosaurs and kogaionid mammals are endemic to Europe. The Gondwanan taxa have been regarded as African immigrants that reached southern Europe via the Mediterranean Tethyan sill. Abelisaurid and titanosaurid dinosaurs, trematochampsid crocodyliforms, podocnemidid and bothremydid turtles, and boid and madtsoiid snakes constitute the basic pattern of the so-called “Eurogondwanan fauna”. However, the validity of some of these taxa is a disputed matter (Titanosauridae, Trematochampsidae), and the presence of other taxa in the Late Cretaceous of Europe is based on controversial data (Boidae, Podocnemididae). Only Abelisauroidea, Madtsoiidae and Bothremydidae (and, yet for confirming, Sebecosuchia) provide evidence of interchanges between Africa and Europe. At least abelisauroids might have reached Europe before the Late Cretaceous. In conclusion, most of the continental tetrapod taxa from the latest Cretaceous of Europe show affinities with those of northern Hemisphere landmasses. Latest Cretaceous trans-Tethyan dispersal events between Africa and Europe remain poorly documented.

Báez, Ana M., Sanchiz, Borja (2007): A review of Neusibatrachus wilferti, an Early Cretaceous frog from the Montsec Range, northeastern Spain. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 52 (3): 477-487, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.13741546

As we have seen in Chapter 4, many invalid European Pleistocene amphibian and reptile species were named on the basis of insufficient and inadequately described fossils (e.g., Estes, 1981, 1983; Rage, 1984c; Sanchiz, in press). Some of these forms have been synonymized with modern species, but others are in taxonomic limbo because of the international rules of zoological nomenclature. We now turn to a consideration of the few European Pleistocene fossil herpetological species that have been recognized as valid in recent years. These taxa fit into three catagories: (1) an extinct Pliocene anuran taxon that extended into the Pleistocene, (2) large Lacerta species that lived on oceanic islands, and (3) Pleistocene species that are probably morphological variants of living forms. All of the following taxa are addressed in Chapter 4. No extinct species of Pleistocene salamanders are currently recognized in Britain or Europe. The genus * Pliobatrachus from the Pliocene of eastern Europe extended into the Lower Pleistocene of Poland and the Middle Pleistocene of Germany in the form of * Pliobatrachus cf. Pliobatrachus langhae. The *Palaeobatrachidae, the only family in the history of the Anura that became totally extinct (Roček, 1995), represents the only extinct herpetological family known in the Pleistocene of Britain and Europe, and *Pliobalrachus represents the only extinct herpetologcal genus known in the Pleistocene of the region. Rocck (1995) suggested that the *Palaeobatrachidae did not survive the Pleistocene cooling because of their prevailingly aquatic mode of life, unlike, for instance, the Ranidac and Bufonidae that were able to withdraw from iceobliterated areas and return when climatic conditions improved. *Lacerta goliath is a Pleistocene or Holocene species that is known only from two localities in the Canary islands (see Chapters 4 and 5). It is twice the size of Lacerta lepida, the largest modern European Lacerta. *Lacerta maxima is another very large Pleistocene or Holocene Lacerta that is endemic to the Canary Islands. This species is known from a single fossil locality (see Chapters 4 and 5) and is differentiated from * Lacerta goliath on the basis of several trenchant osteological characters.

Abstract A general overview of the known anuran fossil record is presented, with an emphasis on diversity and extinct groups. The fossil record is analysed for all anurans at the family level, and palaeontological minimal ages are inferred. Most of the record can be referred to extant families, but a few exceptions remain: the South American Jurassic Vieraella and Notobatrachus, the Asiatic Cretaceous Gobiates and the holarctic palaeobatrachids are especially discussed in this regard. However, the real evolutionary pattern appears to include few examples of lost, extinct diversifications within the order Anura, unless this merely derives from a sampling bias of the known fossil record. Diversity in the past has not proven to be higher than today, and it seems to have been growing very slowly through time.