''Mioproteus'' is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of prehistoric

salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All t ...

s from Neogene

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. Its living relatives are the

olm The olm or proteus (''Proteus anguinus'') is an aquatic salamander in the family Proteidae, the only exclusively cave-dwelling chordate species found in Europe. In contrast to most amphibians, it is entirely aquatic, eating, sleeping, and br ...

and the

mudpuppies ''Necturus'' is a genus of aquatic salamanders native to the eastern United States and Canada. They are commonly known as waterdogs and mudpuppies. The common mudpuppy ''(N. maculosus)'' is probably the best-known species – as an amphibian wi ...

. The species ''M. caucasicus'' is from the Middle Miocene. The species ''M. wezei'' first appears in the fossil record during the Pliocene, then disappears during the Middle Pleistocene.A Review of the fossil Caudata of Europe
/ref>

References

Quaternary amphibians of Europe Pliocene amphibians Miocene amphibians Miocene genus first appearances Pleistocene genus extinctions Pleistocene amphibians Neogene amphibians of Europe Cenozoic salamanders Fossil taxa described in 1978 Proteidae Prehistoric amphibian genera {{paleo-salamander-stub

See also

References