''Enneabatrachus'' is an extinct
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of prehistoric
frog
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...
s known from the late Jurassic
Morrison Formation
The Morrison Formation is a distinctive sequence of Late Jurassic, Upper Jurassic sedimentary rock found in the western United States which has been the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in North America. It is composed of mudstone, sandsto ...
.
[Foster, J. (2007). "''Enneabatrachus hechti''" ''Jurassic West: The Dinosaurs of the Morrison Formation and Their World''. Indiana University Press. p. 137.] It is represented by a single species, ''E. hechti'' (named in 1993),
[S. E. Evans and A. R. Milner. (1993). Frogs and salamanders from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation (Quarry Nine, Como Bluff) of North America. ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' 13(1):24-30] whose remains have been recovered from stratigraphic zone 5.
[Foster, J. (2007). "Appendix." ''Jurassic West: The Dinosaurs of the Morrison Formation and Their World''. Indiana University Press. pp. 327-329.] One specimen has been recovered from Quarry 9 of
Como Bluff
Como Bluff is a long ridge extending east–west, located between the towns of Rock River and Medicine Bow, Wyoming. The ridge is an anticline, formed as a result of compressional geological folding. Three geological formations, the Sundance, t ...
in Wyoming and another specimen was later reported from
Dinosaur National Monument
Dinosaur National Monument is an American national monument located on the southeast flank of the Uinta Mountains on the border between Colorado and Utah at the confluence of the Green and Yampa rivers. Although most of the monument area is in ...
.
A small
discoglossid frog whose name means "nine frog" after the quarry in which it was discovered.
The Como Bluff specimen was an
ilium only a few millimeters long.
''E. hechti''
's live weight would have only been a few grams.
See also
*
Prehistoric amphibian
This list of prehistoric amphibians is an attempt to create a comprehensive listing of all Genus, genera from the fossil record that have ever been considered to be amphibians, excluding purely vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly accep ...
**
List of prehistoric amphibians
This list of prehistoric amphibians is an attempt to create a comprehensive listing of all genera from the fossil record that have ever been considered to be amphibians, excluding purely vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly accepted g ...
*
Paleobiota of the Morrison Formation
The Morrison Formation is a distinctive sequence of Late Jurassic sedimentary rock that is found in the western United States, which has a wide assortment of Taxon, taxa represented in its fossil record, including dinosaur fossils in North America ...
References
Prehistoric frogs
Morrison fauna
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