Thaumastosaurus: Difference between revisions
←Created page with '{{Automatic taxobox | image = Thaumastosaurus gezei 456.jpg | image_caption = "Mummified" specimens of ''T. gezei'' | taxon = Thaumastosaurus | authority = de Stefano, 1903 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = * ''T. botti'' <small>De Stefano, 1903</small> * ''T. gezei'' <small>Rage and Roček, 2007</small> * ''T. servatus'' (<small>Filhol, 1876)</small> * ''T. sulcatus'' <small>Holman and Harrison, 2003</small> * ''T. wardi'' <small>Holman and Ha...' |
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Revision as of 22:07, 6 December 2023
| Thaumastosaurus | |
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| "Mummified" specimens of T. gezei | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Anura |
| Family: | Pyxicephalidae |
| Subfamily: | Pyxicephalinae |
| Genus: | †Thaumastosaurus de Stefano, 1903 |
| Species | |
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Thaumastosaurus ("marvelous lizard") is an extinct genus of frog in the family Pyxicephalidae. Five species are known, all from the Eocene of western Europe, including France, England, and Switzerland. Specimens of the species T. gezei from the Quercy Phosphorites of France are known for their exceptional preservation, providing three-dimensional images of the animal's life appearance.[1]
"Mummified" Thaumastosaurus specimens were first described in the 19th century, named "Rana" plicata (a name later found to be preoccupied) and "Bufo" serratus (later amended to servatus). Fragmentary remains of a skull described in 1903 were confused for the anterior vertebra of a highly unusual lizard, hence the name Thaumastosaurus. Later analyses found "Thaumastosaurus" to be a frog, and assigned the mummified specimens to it. Other skeletal remains assigned to the genus were later found elsewhere in Europe.[1][2][3]
Initially, based on comparative anatomy, Thaumastosaurus was classified within the superfamily Hyloidea, although this would be evolutionary improbable as the Hyloidea were largely restricted to the Americas at the time. More recent cranial analyses have found it to belong to the Pyxicephalidae, a family that contains several large frogs that are now found only in Africa, and specifically a stem-member of the subfamily Pyxicephalinae. This suggests that the ancestors of Thaumastosaurus evolved in Africa and dispersed to Europe during the early Paleogene. It may be related to Rocekophryne, a fossil frog known from the Eocene of Algeria. Thaumastosaurus appears to have gone extinct at the end of the Eocene, during the Eocene–Oligocene extinction event.[1][4][5]
Five species are known, although some may be conspecific with one another:
- T. botti (possibly synonymous with T. gezei) De Stefano, 1903
- T. gezei Rage and Roček, 2007[6]
- T. servatus (Filhol, 1876) (likely synonymous with T. gezei)
- T. sulcatus Holman and Harrison, 2003
- T. wardi Holman and Harrison, 2002
References
- ^ a b c Georgalis, Georgios L; Prendini, Elizabeth; Roček, Zbyněk (2023-07-11). "New information on the Eocene frog Thaumastosaurus (Anura, Pyxicephalidae) from the Phosphorites du Quercy, France". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 199 (3): 744–770. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad047. ISSN 0024-4082.
- ^ Lemierre, Alfred; Folie, Annelise; Bailon, Salvador; Robin, Ninon; Laurin, Michel (2021-05-04). "From toad to frog, a CT-based reconsideration of Bufo servatus , an Eocene anuran mummy from Quercy (France)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 41 (3). doi:10.1080/02724634.2021.1989694. ISSN 0272-4634.
- ^ "Fossil Frog Still Looks Gooey After Over 34 Million Years". Science. 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
- ^ Vasilyan, Davit (2018-08-27). "Eocene Western European endemic genus Thaumastosaurus: new insights into the question "Are the Ranidae known prior to the Oligocene?"". PeerJ. 6: e5511. doi:10.7717/peerj.5511. ISSN 2167-8359.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - ^ Laloy, Fabien; Rage, Jean-Claude; Evans, Susan E.; Boistel, Renaud; Lenoir, Nicolas; Laurin, Michel (2013-09-25). "A Re-Interpretation of the Eocene Anuran Thaumastosaurus Based on MicroCT Examination of a 'Mummified' Specimen". PLOS ONE. 8 (9): e74874. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0074874. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 3783478. PMID 24086389.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: PMC format (link) CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - ^ Rage, Jean-claude; Roček, Zbyněk (2007-06-12). "A new species ofThaumastosaurus(Amphibia: Anura) from the Eocene of Europe". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 27 (2): 329–336. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[329:ansota]2.0.co;2. ISSN 0272-4634.