Indobatrachus Explained

Indobatrachus is an extinct genus of frog known from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) to Early Paleocene (Danian to Selandian) of India. It contains a single species, Indobatrachus pusillus.^{[1] [2] [3]}

Indobatrachus was a very small frog, only 20mm long as an adult. It is known from numerous complete but poorly-preserved specimens (known by Richard Owen as "batracholites") from the Intertrappean Beds of Worli Hill, Mumbai. The stratigraphy of the specimens was formerly dated to the Early Eocene, but is now thought to be Late Cretaceous in age. Two other species, I. trivialis and I. malabaricus, were also previously described, but these have since been synonymized with I. pusillus.^{[4] [5]}

The taxonomy of this genus is debated; it was previously classified within the Australian frog superfamily Myobatrachoidea by many authors, including Owen, but such a relationship is now considered dubious or untenable, with only some vertebral similarities linking the two groups.^[6] Alternatively, it may represent a member of the superfamily Sooglossoidea, another ancient group that is thought to have originated on Insular India during the Cretaceous.^[7]

Notes and References

1. Owen . 1847 . On the Batracholites, indicative of a small species of Frog (Rana pusilla, Ow.). Addendum to the Communication from G. T. Clark, Esq., Bombay . Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society . en . 3 . 1–2 . 224–225 . 10.1144/GSL.JGS.1847.003.01-02.24 . 130170290 . 0370-291X.
2. Web site: Fossilworks: Indobatrachus pusillus . 11 May 2023 . www.fossilworks.org.
3. Metcalf . M. M. . 12 December 1930 . A Fossil Frog, Indobatrachus Noble, from the Eocene of Southwestern India . Science . en . 72 . 1876 . 602–603 . 10.1126/science.72.1876.602 . 17756365 . 1930Sci....72..602M . 0036-8075.
4. Folie . Annelise . 2012 . Early Eocene frogs from Vastan Lignite Mine, Gujarat, India . Acta Palaeontologica Polonica . en . 10.4202/app.2011.0063 . 55406707 . 0567-7920. free .
5. Špinar . Zdeněk V. . Hodrová . Marcela . 1985 . New knowledge of the genus Indobatrachus (Anura) from the Lower Eocene of India . Amphibia-Reptilia . 6 . 4 . 363–376 . 10.1163/156853885x00353 . 0173-5373.
6. Tyler . Michael J. . 1974 . First frog fossils from Australia . Nature . en . 248 . 5450 . 711–712 . 10.1038/248711b0 . 1974Natur.248..711T . 4206559 . 1476-4687.
7. Biju . S. D. . Bossuyt . Franky . 2003 . New frog family from India reveals an ancient biogeographical link with the Seychelles . Nature . en . 425 . 6959 . 711–714 . 10.1038/nature02019 . 14562102 . 4425593 . 1476-4687. subscription .