2020 in amphibian paleontology explained

This list of fossil amphibians described in 2020 is a list of new taxa of fossil amphibians that were described during the year 2020, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to amphibian paleontology that occurred in 2020.

New taxa

Temnospondyli

NameNoveltyStatusAuthorsAgeType localityCountryNotesImages
Benthosuchus lukyanovi[1] Sp. novValidMorkovinEarly Triassic
Diploseira[2] Gen. et comb. novValidDilkesEarly PermianArcher City Formation
A dissorophid temnospondyl;
a new genus for "Dissorophus" angustus.
Korkonterpeton[3] Gen. et sp. novValidWerneburg, Štamberg & SteyerPermian (Asselian to Artinskian)ProsečnéA stereospondylomorph temnospondyl of uncertain phylogenetic placement.
The type species is K. kalnense.
Palodromeus[4] Gen. et sp. novValidSchoch, Henrici & HookLate CarboniferousAllegheny Formation
An olsoniform dissorophoid temnospondyl.
Genus includes new species P. bairdi.
Rastosuchus[5] Gen. et sp. novValidDias, Dias-da-Silva & SchultzPermianRio do Rasto FormationA rhinesuchid.
The type species is R. hammeri.

Anurans

NameNoveltyStatusAuthorsAgeType localityCountryNotesImages
Calyptocephalella sabrosa[7] Sp. novValidMuzzopappa et al.Paleocene (Danian)Salamanca FormationA frog, a species of Calyptocephalella.
Ceratophrys sagani[8] Sp. novValidBarcelos et al.Probably late Pleistocene–early HoloceneA South American horned frog.
Kururubatrachus[9] Gen. et sp. novIn pressAgnolin et al.Early Cretaceous (Aptian)CratoA neobatrachian frog resembling extant members of Hyloidea. Genus includes new species K. gondwanicus.

Caudata

NameNoveltyStatusAuthorsAgeType localityCountryNotesImages
Balveherpeton[10] Gen. et sp. novIn pressSkutschas, Kolchanov & SchwermannEarly Cretaceous (BarremianAptian)A salamandroid salamander. Genus includes new species B. hoennetalensis.
Egoria[11] Gen. et sp. novValidSkutschas et al.Middle Jurassic (Bathonian)Itat Formation
A stem-salamander. The type species is E. malashichevi.
Palaeoproteus miocenicus[12] Sp. novValidVasilyan & YanenkoMiocene (Vallesian)
A salamander belonging to the family Batrachosauroididae

Others

NameNoveltyStatusAuthorsAgeType localityCountryNotesImages
Brittagnathus[13] Gen. et sp. novValidAhlberg & ClackDevonian (Famennian)Britta DalA basal tetrapod. The type species is B. minutus.
Leptoropha minima[14] Sp. novValidBulanovPermian
A member of Seymouriamorpha
Microphon terminalis[15] Sp. novValidBulanovLate Permian
A member of Seymouriamorpha belonging to the family Kotlassiidae.
Seroherpeton[16] Gen. et sp. novValidChen & LiuPermian (Wuchiapingian)SunjiagouA member of Embolomeri. The type species is S. yangquanensis.
Steenerpeton[17] Gen. et sp. novValidMann et al.Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian)Joggins
A recumbirostran "microsaur". Genus includes new species S. silvae.

Research

Notes and References

  1. B. I. Morkovin . 2020 . A new benthosuchid (Amphibia: Temnospondyli) from the Lower Triassic of the Moscow Syncline . Paleontological Journal . 54 . 4 . 401–409 . 10.1134/S0031030120040176 . 2020PalJ...54..401M . 221161848 . 2021-01-09 . 2021-01-11 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210111011756/https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=42890267 . live .
  2. David W. Dilkes . 2020 . Revision of the Early Permian Dissorophid Dissorophus angustus (Temnospondyli: Dissorophoidea) . Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 40 . 4 . e1801704 . 10.1080/02724634.2020.1801704 . 2020JVPal..40E1704D . 225148088 .
  3. Ralf Werneburg . Stanislav Štamberg . Jean-Sébastien Steyer . 2020 . A new stereospondylomorph, Korkonterpeton kalnense gen. et sp. nov., from lower Permian of the Czech Krkonoše Piedmont Basin and a redescription of Intasuchus silvicola from the lower Permian of Russia (Temnospondyli, Amphibia) . Fossil Imprint . 76 . 2 . 217–242 . 10.37520/fi.2020.019 . free .
  4. Rainer R. Schoch . Amy C. Henrici . Robert W. Hook . 2020 . A new dissorophoid temnospondyl from the Allegheny Group (late Carboniferous) of Five Points, Mahoning County, Ohio (USA) . Journal of Paleontology . 95 . 3 . 638–651 . 10.1017/jpa.2020.101 . 230607719 .
  5. Eliseu Vieira Dias . Sérgio Dias-da-Silva . Cesar Leandro Schultz . 2020 . A new short-snouted rhinesuchid from the Permian of southern Brazil . Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia . 23 . 2 . 98–122 . 10.4072/rbp.2020.2.03 . free . 10183/229929 . free .
  6. Juan D. Daza. Edward L. Stanley. Arnau Bolet. Aaron M. Bauer. J. Salvador Arias. Andrej Čerňanský. Joseph J. Bevitt. Philipp Wagner. Susan E. Evans. 2020. Enigmatic amphibians in mid-Cretaceous amber were chameleon-like ballistic feeders. Science. 370. 6517. 687–691. 10.1126/science.abb6005. 33154135. 2020Sci...370..687D. 226254862. 2021-01-09. 2021-01-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20210111004742/https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10114312/. live.
  7. Paula Muzzopappa . Agustín G. Martinelli . Juan P. Garderes . Guillermo W. Rougier . 2020 . Exceptional avian pellet from the Paleocene of Patagonia and description of its content: a new species of calyptocephalellid (Neobatrachia) anuran . Papers in Palaeontology . 7 . 2 . 1133–1146 . 10.1002/spp2.1333 . free .
  8. Lucas A. Barcelos . Diego Almeida-Silva . Charles M. D. Santos . Vanessa K. Verdade . 2020 . Description of a new species of fossil Ceratophrys (Anura: Ceratophryidae) from Versalles Cave, São Paulo, Brazil . Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 40 . 3 . e1811293 . 10.1080/02724634.2020.1811293 . 2020JVPal..40E1293B . 225136948 .
  9. Federico Agnolin . Ismar Souza Carvalho . Alexis M. Aranciaga Rolando . Fernando E. Novas . José Xavier-Neto . José Artur Ferreira Gomes Andrade . Francisco Idalécio Freitas . 2020 . Early Cretaceous neobatrachian frog (Anura) from Brazil sheds light on the origin of modern anurans . Journal of South American Earth Sciences . 101 . Article 102633 . 10.1016/j.jsames.2020.102633 . 2020JSAES.10102633A . 218957427 .
  10. Pavel P. Skutschas . Veniamin V. Kolchanov . Achim H. Schwermann . 2020 . First salamander from the Lower Cretaceous of Germany . Cretaceous Research . 116 . Article 104606 . 10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104606 . 2020CrRes.11604606S . 225440583 .
  11. Pavel Skutschas . Veniamin Kolchanov . Sergey Krasnolutskii . Alexander Averianov . Rico Schellhorn . Julia Schultz . Thomas Martin . 2020 . A new small-sized stem salamander from the Middle Jurassic of Western Siberia, Russia . PLOS ONE . 15 . 2 . e0228610 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0228610 . 32074114 . 7029856 . 2020PLoSO..1528610S . free .
  12. Davit Vasilyan . Vadym Yanenko . 2020 . The last Palaeoproteus (Urodela: Batrachosauroididae) of Europe . Scientific Reports . 10 . 1 . Article number 2733 . 10.1038/s41598-020-59255-1 . 32066790 . 7026125 . 2020NatSR..10.2733V .
  13. Per E. Ahlberg. Jennifer A. Clack. 2020. The smallest known Devonian tetrapod shows unexpectedly derived features. Royal Society Open Science. 7. 4. Article ID 192117. 2020RSOS....792117A. 10.1098/rsos.192117. 7211834. 32431888.
  14. V. V. Bulanov. 2020. A new Leptoropha (Kotlassiidae, Seymouriamorpha) species from the Upper Urzhumian of European Russia. Paleontological Journal. 54. 3. 290–296. 10.1134/S0031030120030053. 2020PalJ...54..290B . 219959325. 2021-01-09. 2021-01-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20210112020848/https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=42725919. live.
  15. V. V. Bulanov. 2020. A new kotlassiid (Amphibia, Seymouriamorpha) from the terminal Permian of Eastern Europe. Paleontological Journal. 54. 7. 757–768. 10.1134/S0031030120070035. 2020PalJ...54..757B . 229292215.
  16. Jianye Chen. Jun Liu. 2020. The youngest occurrence of embolomeres (Tetrapoda: Anthracosauria) from the Sunjiagou Formation (Lopingian, Permian) of North China. Fossil Record. 23. 2. 205–213. 10.5194/fr-23-205-2020. 2020FossR..23..205C . free.
  17. Arjan Mann. Bryan M. Gee. Jason D. Pardo. David Marjanović. Gabrielle R. Adams. Ami S. Calthorpe. Hillary C. Maddin. Jason S. Anderson. 2020. Reassessment of historic 'microsaurs' from Joggins, Nova Scotia, reveals hidden diversity in the earliest amniote ecosystem. Papers in Palaeontology. 6. 4. 605–625. 10.1002/spp2.1316. 2020PPal....6..605M . 218925814.
  18. Blake V. Dickson . Jennifer A. Clack . Timothy R. Smithson . Stephanie E. Pierce . 2020 . Functional adaptive landscapes predict terrestrial capacity at the origin of limbs . Nature . 589 . 7841 . 242–245 . 10.1038/s41586-020-2974-5 . 33239789 . 227176144 .
  19. H. M. Byrne . J. A. M. Green . S. A. Balbus . P. E. Ahlberg . 2020 . Tides: A key environmental driver of osteichthyan evolution and the fish-tetrapod transition? . Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences . 476 . 2242 . Article ID 20200355 . 10.1098/rspa.2020.0355 . 33223936 . 7655770 . 2020RSPSA.47600355B .
  20. Kendra I. Lennie . Chris F. Mansky . Jason S. Anderson . 2020 . New Crassigyrinus-like fibula from the Tournaisian (earliest Carboniferous) of Nova Scotia . Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences . 57 . 11. 1365–1369. 10.1139/cjes-2019-0128 . 2020CaJES..57.1365L . 225160164 .
  21. A. V. Uliakhin . P. P. Skutschas . P. G. Saburov . 2020 . Histology of Dvinosaurus campbelli (Temnospondyli, Dvinosauria) from the Late Permian locality Gorokhovets, Vladimir Region . Paleontological Journal . 54 . 6 . 632–639 . 10.1134/S0031030120060106 . 2020PalJ...54..632U . 227131135 . 2021-01-09 . 2021-10-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211027213443/https://www.elibrary.ru/ip_restricted.asp?rpage=https%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eelibrary%2Eru%2Fitem%2Easp%3Fid%3D43961965 . live .
  22. Bryan M. Gee . 2020 . Size matters: the effects of ontogenetic disparity on the phylogeny of Trematopidae (Amphibia: Temnospondyli) . Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society . 190 . 1 . 79–113. 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz170 .
  23. Bryan M. Gee . Robert R. Reisz . 2020 . A redescription of the late Carboniferous trematopid Actiobates peabodyi from Garnett, Kansas . The Anatomical Record . 303 . 11 . 2821–2838 . 10.1002/ar.24381 . 32003550 . 210982434 . free .
  24. Jason S. Anderson . Diane Scott . Robert R. Reisz . 2020 . The anatomy of the dermatocranium and mandible of Cacops aspidephorus Williston, 1910 (Temnospondyli: Dissorophidae), from the Lower Permian of Texas . Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 40 . 2 . e1776720 . 10.1080/02724634.2020.1776720 . 2020JVPal..40E6720A . 222213227 . 1880/113830 . free .
  25. Arjan Mann . Bryan M. Gee . 2020 . Lissamphibian-like toepads in an exceptionally preserved amphibamiform from Mazon Creek . Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 39 . 6 . e1727490 . 10.1080/02724634.2019.1727490 . 216173387 .
  26. Jade B. Atkins . Peter Sourges . Nadia B. Fröbisch . Robert R. Reisz . Hillary C. Maddin . 2020 . Late ontogeny in the small Early Permian amphibamiform dissorophoid Pasawioops mayi . Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 40 . 2 . e1772800 . 10.1080/02724634.2020.1772800 . 2020JVPal..40E2800A . 222210249 .
  27. Bryan M. Gee . . Robert R. Reisz . 2020 . Histological skeletochronology indicates developmental plasticity in the early Permian stem lissamphibian Doleserpeton annectens . Ecology and Evolution . 10 . 4 . 2153–2169 . 10.1002/ece3.6054 . 32128146 . 7042763 . 2020EcoEv..10.2153G .
  28. I. V. Novikov . P. A. Haiduk . A. V. Gribanov . А. N. Ivanov . А. V. Novikov . I. A. Starodubtseva . 2020 . The earliest case of neoplastic bone lesion in tetrapods . Paleontological Journal . 54 . 1 . 68–72 . 10.1134/S0031030120010074 . 2020PalJ...54...68N . 212938753 . 2021-01-09 . 2021-01-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210112031659/https://elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=41695139 . live .
  29. Michael W. Maisch . 2020 . Aphaneramma kokeni (von Huene, 1920), a lonchorhynchine trematosaurid (Amphibia: Temnospondyli) from the Lower Triassic of Pakistan . Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen . 295 . 3 . 211–241 . 10.1127/njgpa/2020/0879 . 216325073 .
  30. Elżbieta M. Teschner . Sanjukta Chakravorti . Dhurjati P. Sengupta . Dorota Konietzko-Meier . 2020 . Climatic influence on the growth pattern of Panthasaurus maleriensis from the Late Triassic of India deduced from paleohistology . PeerJ . 8 . e9868 . 10.7717/peerj.9868 . 33194360 . 7485487 . free .
  31. Dorota Konietzko‐Meier . Elżbieta M. Teschner . Adam Bodzioch . P. Martin Sander . 2020 . Pentadactyl manus of the Metoposaurus krasiejowensis from the Late Triassic of Poland, the first record of pentadactyly among Temnospondyli . Journal of Anatomy . 237 . 6. 1151–1161. 10.1111/joa.13276 . 32707603 . 7704227 . 225501640 .
  32. Steven L. Wick . 2020 . Albanerpetontids (Lissamphibia, Albanerpetontidae) from the Aguja Formation (lower Campanian) of West Texas, USA . Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences . 58 . 2 . 141–149. 10.1139/cjes-2020-0071 . 225381667 .
  33. Rodolfo Otávio Santos . Michel Laurin . Hussam Zaher . 2020 . A review of the fossil record of caecilians (Lissamphibia: Gymnophionomorpha) with comments on its use to calibrate molecular timetrees . Biological Journal of the Linnean Society . 131 . 4 . 737–755 . 10.1093/biolinnean/blaa148 . free .
  34. Rainer R. Schoch . Ralf Werneburg . Sebastian Voigt . 2020 . A Triassic stem-salamander from Kyrgyzstan and the origin of salamanders . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America . 117 . 21 . 11584–11588 . 10.1073/pnas.2001424117 . 32393623 . 7261083 . 2020PNAS..11711584S . free .
  35. Yu-Fen Rong . Davit Vasilyan . Li-Ping Dong . Yuan Wang . 2020 . Revision of Chunerpeton tianyiense (Lissamphibia, Caudata): is it a cryptobranchid salamander? . Palaeoworld . 30 . 4 . 708–723 . 10.1016/j.palwor.2020.12.001 . free .
  36. Peter Pogoda . Marcus Zuber . Tilo Baumbach . Rainer R. Schoch . Alexander Kupfer . 2020 . Cranial shape evolution of extant and fossil crocodile newts and its relation to reproduction and ecology . Journal of Anatomy . 237 . 2 . 285–300 . 10.1111/joa.13201 . 32297321 . 7369190 .
  37. Ana M. Báez . Paula Muzzopappa . Geraldo J. Barbosa de Moura . 2020 . The earliest records of pipimorph frogs from South America (Aptian, Crato Formation, Brazil): A critical evaluation . Cretaceous Research . 121 . Article 104728 . 10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104728 . 230581615 .
  38. Thomas Mörs . Marcelo Reguero . Davit Vasilyan . 2020 . First fossil frog from Antarctica: implications for Eocene high latitude climate conditions and Gondwanan cosmopolitanism of Australobatrachia . Scientific Reports . 10 . 1 . Article number 5051 . 10.1038/s41598-020-61973-5 . 32327670 . 7181706 . 2020NatSR..10.5051M .
  39. David C. Blackburn . Rachel M. Keeffe . María C. Vallejo-Pareja . Jorge Vélez-Juarbe . 2020 . The earliest record of Caribbean frogs: a fossil coquí from Puerto Rico . Biology Letters . 16 . 4 . Article ID 20190947 . 10.1098/rsbl.2019.0947 . 32264782 . 7211465 .
  40. Marcello Ruta . Jennifer A. Clack . Timothy R. Smithson . 2020 . A review of the stem amniote Eldeceeon rolfei from the Viséan of East Kirkton, Scotland . Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh . 111 . 3 . 173–192 . 10.1017/S1755691020000079 . 2020EESTR.111..173R . free .
  41. Jordi Estefa . Jozef Klembara . Paul Tafforeau . Sophie Sanchez . 2020 . Limb-bone development of seymouriamorphs: implications for the evolution of growth strategy in stem amniotes . Frontiers in Earth Science . 8 . Article 97 . 10.3389/feart.2020.00097 . 2020FrEaS...8...97E . 215756014 . free .
  42. Kayla D. Bazzana . Bryan M. Gee . Joseph J. Bevitt . Robert R. Reisz . 2020 . Neurocranial anatomy of Seymouria from Richards Spur, Oklahoma . Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 39 . 5 . e1694535 . 10.1080/02724634.2019.1694535 . 213842156 .
  43. Kayla D. Bazzana . Bryan M. Gee . Joseph J. Bevitt . Robert R. Reisz . 2020 . Postcranial anatomy and histology of Seymouria, and the terrestriality of seymouriamorphs . PeerJ . 8 . e8698 . 10.7717/peerj.8698 . 32195050 . 7069408 . free .
  44. Bryan M. Gee . Joseph J. Bevitt . Robert R. Reisz . 2020 . Computed tomographic analysis of the cranium of the early Permian recumbirostran 'microsaur' Euryodus dalyae reveals new details of the braincase and mandible . Papers in Palaeontology . 7 . 2 . 721–749 . 10.1002/spp2.1304 . 216359488 .
  45. Jozef Klembara . Miroslav Hain . Andrej Čerňanský . David S. Berman . Amy C. Henrici . 2020 . Anatomy of the neural endocranium and stapes of Diadectes absitus (Diadectomorpha) from the early Permian of Germany based on the high‐resolution X‐ray microcomputed tomography . The Anatomical Record . 303 . 12 . 2977–2999 . 10.1002/ar.24376 . 31967384 . 210870508 . free .