Valdotriton
Appearance
Valdotriton Temporal range: Early Cretaceous,
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Genus: | Valdotriton
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Species: | †V. gracilis Evans and Milner, 1996[1]
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Valdotriton is a genus of extinct prehistoric salamanders. Its only known species is Valdotriton gracilis (also known as the Wealden newt). V. gracilis lived during the Late Barremian in what is now Spain.[1][2] It was found in the Las Hoyas locality. It represents one of the oldest known members of Salamandroidea.[3]
Description
V. gracilis was a fairly small salamander, available specimens ranging from 28 millimetres (1.1 in) to 40 millimetres (1.6 in) in length, however no single specimen could decisively be determined to be an adult. In all specimens, however, the tail was longer than the torso.[2]
See also
References
- ^ a b "The Paleobiology Database". Retrieved 9 January 2010.
- ^ a b Evans, Susan E.; Andrew R. Milner (May 29, 1996). "A Metamorphosed Salamander from the Early Cretaceous of Las Hoyas, Spain". Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences. 351 (1340). The Royal Society: 627–646. doi:10.1098/rstb.1996.0061. ISSN 1471-2970. JSTOR 56320.
- ^ Jones, Marc E. H.; Benson, Roger B. J.; Skutschas, Pavel; Hill, Lucy; Panciroli, Elsa; Schmitt, Armin D.; Walsh, Stig A.; Evans, Susan E. (2022-07-11). "Middle Jurassic fossils document an early stage in salamander evolution". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 119 (30). Bibcode:2022PNAS..11914100J. doi:10.1073/pnas.2114100119. ISSN 0027-8424. PMID 35858401.