Notobatrachus

Notobatrachus; Temporal range: ; Middle-Late Toarcian to Bajocian; ~179–168 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Anura
Suborder:	Archaeobatrachia
Genus:	†Notobatrachus; Reig 1956
Species
	N. degiustoi Reig 1956 (type); N. reigi Báez & Nicoli 2008;

Notobatrachus is an extinct genus of frog from the Lower Jurassic (Toarcian) Cañadon Asfalto Formation, Cañadón Asfalto Basin and Middle Jurassic La Matilde Formation, Deseado Massif of Patagonia, Argentina.^[3] N. degiustoi is the most completely known Jurassic frog and has been recorded in many outcrops of the La Matilde Formation of the Deseado Massif in southern Patagonia.^[4]

Description

Most of the specimens of N. degiustoi are postmetamorphic individuals, with the largest individuals reaching body lengths of 15 centimetres (5.9 in), making them among the largest known frogs of the Mesozoic era, and comparable in size to many large modern frogs.^[5]^[4] CPBA-V-14003 consists of disarticulated cranial and postcranial elements, and may correspond either to a late metamorphosing tadpole or an early postmetamorphic individual.^[6] In 2024, a tadpole specimen of N. degiustoi (MPM-PV 23540) was reported from the La Matilde Formation of Argentina, representing the oldest known tadpole and the first stem-anuran larva in the fossil record. Tadpoles of this species reached lengths of 15.9 centimetres (6.3 in), among the largest recorded in frogs living or extinct.^[5]

Ecology

Notobatrachus degiustoi lived in a floodplain environment that varied from being seasonally wet to seasonally dry. Tadpoles of Notobatrachus degiustoi are thought to have lived in ephemeral ponds that formed and disappeared seasonally. Like many living tadpoles, they are thought to have been filter feeders.^[5]

Taxonomy

Notobatrachus is thought to be a member of the stem-group of Anura, with all living frogs more closely related to each other than Notobatrachus,^[5] though Notobatrachus is more closely related to modern frogs than earlier salientians like Triadobatrachus, Czatkobatrachus, and Prosalirus.^[7]

References

^ Fantasia, A.; Föllmi, K. B.; Adatte, T.; Spangenberg, J. E.; Schoene, B.; Barker, R. T.; Scasso, R. A. (2021). "Late Toarcian continental palaeoenvironmental conditions: An example from the Canadon Asfalto Formation in southern Argentina". Gondwana Research. 89 (1): 47–65. Bibcode:2021GondR..89...47F. doi:10.1016/j.gr.2020.10.001. S2CID 225120452. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
^ Pol, D.; Gomez, K.; Holwerda, F. M.; Rauhut, O. W.; Carballido, J. L. (2022). "Sauropods from the Early Jurassic of South America and the Radiation of Eusauropoda". South American Sauropodomorph Dinosaurs. 1 (1): 131–163. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-95959-3_4. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
^ Escapa et al., 2008
^ ^a ^b Báez & Nicoli, 2004, p.258
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Chuliver, M.; Agnolín, F. L.; Scanferla, A.; Aranciaga Rolando, M.; Ezcurra, M. D.; Novas, F. E.; Xu, X. (2024). "The oldest tadpole reveals evolutionary stability of the anuran life cycle". Nature: 1–5. doi:10.1038/s41586-024-08055-y.
^ Báez & Nicoli, 2004, p.259
^ Marjanović, David; Laurin, Michel (2014-07-04). "An updated paleontological timetree of lissamphibians, with comments on the anatomy of Jurassic crown-group salamanders (Urodela)". Historical Biology. 26 (4): 535–550. doi:10.1080/08912963.2013.797972. ISSN 0891-2963.

Bibliography

Báez, Ana María; Nicoli, Laura (2004), "A new look at an old frog: the Jurassic Notobatrachus Reig from Patagonia", Ameghiniana, 41: 257–270, retrieved 2019-03-29
Escapa, I.H.; Sterli, J.; Pol, D.; Nicoli, L. (2008), "Jurassic Tetrapods and Flora of Cañadón Asfalto Formation in Cerro Cóndor Area, Chubut Province" (PDF), Revista de la Asociación Geológica Argentina, 63 (4): 613–624, retrieved 2019-03-01