A review of Neusibatrachus wilferti, an early Cretaceous frog from the Montsec Range, northeastern Spain

Neusibatrachus wilferti is an anuran from the late Berriasian-early Valanginian fossiliferous lacustrine limestones that are exposed in the eastern part of the Montsec Range, province of Lleida, Spain. It was originalry described by Seiffert in 1972 and its phylogenetic position has since been discu...

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Autores principales: Báez, A.M., Sanchiz, B.
Formato: JOUR
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Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_05677920_v52_n3_p477_Baez
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spelling todo:paper_05677920_v52_n3_p477_Baez2023-10-03T15:35:56Z A review of Neusibatrachus wilferti, an early Cretaceous frog from the Montsec Range, northeastern Spain Báez, A.M. Sanchiz, B. Amphibia Anura Cretaceous Montsec Neusibatrachus Palaeobatrachidae Pipoidea Spain Cretaceous fossil frog morphology phylogeny taxonomy type specimen Catalonia Eurasia Europe Lerida [Catalonia] Southern Europe Spain Amphibia Anura Palaeobatrachidae Pipidae Pipoidea Rana iberica Rhinophrynidae Neusibatrachus wilferti is an anuran from the late Berriasian-early Valanginian fossiliferous lacustrine limestones that are exposed in the eastern part of the Montsec Range, province of Lleida, Spain. It was originalry described by Seiffert in 1972 and its phylogenetic position has since been discussed. Neusibatrachus has been considered an undeterminable fossil, an abnormal individual, or a primitive palaeobatrachid. Here we redescribe the only available specimen, and clarify features, such as absence of palatines, nine presacrals, and procoelous vertebral centra, that have been the subject of previous debates. We consider the specimen to be a postmetamorphic individual and make developmental interpretations of some of its characters. In particular, we provide evidence of a living anuran (Rana iberica) that resembles Neusibatrachus in the development of intervertebral articulations. Neusibatrachus is considered a valid genus, which differs from other anurans, except for the pipoids, in the joint presence of an azygous frontoparietal and a parasphenoid lacking the subotic alae, although it differs from the pipoids in having nine presacral vertebrae. Morphological evidence indicates that Neusibatrachus is related to Xenoanura, the pipoid branch in the living Amphibia Tree of Life based on molecular data. Moreover, it might be a member of the pipoid clade proper, which presently includes the Pipidae, Rhinophrynidae, and several fossil taxa, including the Palaeobatrachidae, although the evidence is not conclusive. JOUR info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ar http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_05677920_v52_n3_p477_Baez
institution Universidad de Buenos Aires
institution_str I-28
repository_str R-134
collection Biblioteca Digital - Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (UBA)
topic Amphibia
Anura
Cretaceous
Montsec
Neusibatrachus
Palaeobatrachidae
Pipoidea
Spain
Cretaceous
fossil
frog
morphology
phylogeny
taxonomy
type specimen
Catalonia
Eurasia
Europe
Lerida [Catalonia]
Southern Europe
Spain
Amphibia
Anura
Palaeobatrachidae
Pipidae
Pipoidea
Rana iberica
Rhinophrynidae
spellingShingle Amphibia
Anura
Cretaceous
Montsec
Neusibatrachus
Palaeobatrachidae
Pipoidea
Spain
Cretaceous
fossil
frog
morphology
phylogeny
taxonomy
type specimen
Catalonia
Eurasia
Europe
Lerida [Catalonia]
Southern Europe
Spain
Amphibia
Anura
Palaeobatrachidae
Pipidae
Pipoidea
Rana iberica
Rhinophrynidae
Báez, A.M.
Sanchiz, B.
A review of Neusibatrachus wilferti, an early Cretaceous frog from the Montsec Range, northeastern Spain
topic_facet Amphibia
Anura
Cretaceous
Montsec
Neusibatrachus
Palaeobatrachidae
Pipoidea
Spain
Cretaceous
fossil
frog
morphology
phylogeny
taxonomy
type specimen
Catalonia
Eurasia
Europe
Lerida [Catalonia]
Southern Europe
Spain
Amphibia
Anura
Palaeobatrachidae
Pipidae
Pipoidea
Rana iberica
Rhinophrynidae
description Neusibatrachus wilferti is an anuran from the late Berriasian-early Valanginian fossiliferous lacustrine limestones that are exposed in the eastern part of the Montsec Range, province of Lleida, Spain. It was originalry described by Seiffert in 1972 and its phylogenetic position has since been discussed. Neusibatrachus has been considered an undeterminable fossil, an abnormal individual, or a primitive palaeobatrachid. Here we redescribe the only available specimen, and clarify features, such as absence of palatines, nine presacrals, and procoelous vertebral centra, that have been the subject of previous debates. We consider the specimen to be a postmetamorphic individual and make developmental interpretations of some of its characters. In particular, we provide evidence of a living anuran (Rana iberica) that resembles Neusibatrachus in the development of intervertebral articulations. Neusibatrachus is considered a valid genus, which differs from other anurans, except for the pipoids, in the joint presence of an azygous frontoparietal and a parasphenoid lacking the subotic alae, although it differs from the pipoids in having nine presacral vertebrae. Morphological evidence indicates that Neusibatrachus is related to Xenoanura, the pipoid branch in the living Amphibia Tree of Life based on molecular data. Moreover, it might be a member of the pipoid clade proper, which presently includes the Pipidae, Rhinophrynidae, and several fossil taxa, including the Palaeobatrachidae, although the evidence is not conclusive.
format JOUR
author Báez, A.M.
Sanchiz, B.
author_facet Báez, A.M.
Sanchiz, B.
author_sort Báez, A.M.
title A review of Neusibatrachus wilferti, an early Cretaceous frog from the Montsec Range, northeastern Spain
title_short A review of Neusibatrachus wilferti, an early Cretaceous frog from the Montsec Range, northeastern Spain
title_full A review of Neusibatrachus wilferti, an early Cretaceous frog from the Montsec Range, northeastern Spain
title_fullStr A review of Neusibatrachus wilferti, an early Cretaceous frog from the Montsec Range, northeastern Spain
title_full_unstemmed A review of Neusibatrachus wilferti, an early Cretaceous frog from the Montsec Range, northeastern Spain
title_sort review of neusibatrachus wilferti, an early cretaceous frog from the montsec range, northeastern spain
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_05677920_v52_n3_p477_Baez
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