Eodiscoglossus santonjae
David Cannatella
Introduction
This is among the best-preserved of "discoglossid" fossils and is from the late Jurassic or early Cretaceous (Estes and Reig 1973). The single specimen is about 28 mm long and is from the well-known lithographic limestones at Montsech, Spain.
Phylogenetic Position of Eodiscoglossus santonjae
Two features are particularly relevant to the placement of this frog: eight presacral vertebrae and the lack of carpal torsion in the wrist bones. The former character indicates that this taxon is located above the tree level of Ascaphus and Leiopelma, which both have nine presacral vertebrae. The latter feature indicates that it is below the clade Pipanura, for which carpal torsion is a diagnostic feature. Its placement in the tree is considered a conservative statement of its relationships.
References
Estes, R., and O. A. Reig. 1973. The early fossil record of frogs: a review of the evidence. Pages 11-63 in Evolutionary Biology of the Anurans (J. L. Vial, ed.) University of Missouri Press, Columbia, Missouri.
Sanchíz, B. 1998. Salientia. 275 pp. Encyclopedia of Paleoherpetology (P. Wellnhofer, ed.) Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, München.
About This Page
David Cannatella
University of Texas, Austin, Texas, USA
Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to David Cannatella at
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Cannatella, David. 1995. Eodiscoglossus santonjae. Version 01 January 1995 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Eodiscoglossus_santonjae/16970/1995.01.01 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/
