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Caudata
The Caudata are a group of amphibians containing the extant salamanders (Urodela) and all extinct species of amphibians more closely related to salamanders than to frogs. They are typically characterized by a superficially 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. Disagreement exists between different authorities as to the definition of the terms "Caudata" and "Urodela". Some maintain that Urodela should be restricted to the crown group, with Caudata being used for the total group. Others restrict the name Caudata to the crown group and use Urodela for the total group. The former approach seems to be most widely adopted and is used in this article. Evolution The origins and evolutionary relationships between the three main groups of amphibians (caecilian, apodans, Salamander, urodeles and Frog, anurans) is a matter of debate. A 2005 molecular phylogeny, base ...
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Amphibian
Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arboreal or freshwater aquatic ecosystems. Thus amphibians typically start out as larvae living in water, but some species have developed behavioural adaptations to bypass this. The young generally undergo metamorphosis from larva with gills to an adult air-breathing form with lungs. Amphibians use their skin as a secondary respiratory surface and some small terrestrial salamanders and frogs lack lungs and rely entirely on their skin. They are superficially similar to reptiles like lizards but, along with mammals and birds, reptiles are amniotes and do not require water bodies in which to breed. With their complex reproductive needs and permeable skins, amphibians are often ecological indicators; in recent decades there has been a dramatic ...
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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 ten extant salamander families are grouped together under the order Urodela. Salamander diversity is highest in eastern North America, especially in the Appalachian Mountains; most species are found in the Holarctic realm, with some species present in the Neotropical realm. Salamanders rarely have more than four toes on their front legs and five on their rear legs, but some species have fewer digits and others lack hind limbs. Their permeable skin usually makes them reliant on habitats in or near water or other cool, damp places. Some salamander species are fully aquatic throughout their lives, some take to the water intermittently, and others are entirely terrestrial as adults. This group of amphibians is capable of regenerating los ...
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Urodela
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 ten extant salamander families are grouped together under the order Urodela. Salamander diversity is highest in eastern North America, especially in the Appalachian Mountains; most species are found in the Holarctic realm, with some species present in the Neotropical realm. Salamanders rarely have more than four toes on their front legs and five on their rear legs, but some species have fewer digits and others lack hind limbs. Their permeable skin usually makes them reliant on habitats in or near water or other cool, damp places. Some salamander species are fully aquatic throughout their lives, some take to the water intermittently, and others are entirely terrestrial as adults. This group of amphibians is capable of regenerating lost limb ...
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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 ten extant salamander families are grouped together under the order Urodela. Salamander diversity is highest in eastern North America, especially in the Appalachian Mountains; most species are found in the Holarctic realm, with some species present in the Neotropical realm. Salamanders rarely have more than four toes on their front legs and five on their rear legs, but some species have fewer digits and others lack hind limbs. Their permeable skin usually makes them reliant on habitats in or near water or other cool, damp places. Some salamander species are fully aquatic throughout their lives, some take to the water intermittently, and others are entirely terrestrial as adults. This group of amphibians is capable of regenerating los ...
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Karauridae
The Karauridae are a family of stem-group salamanders (Caudata) that are known from the Middle Jurassic to Late Jurassic in Central Asia (Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan) and Western Europe (United Kingdom). The family includes three members: '' Karaurus'' from the Middle-Late Jurassic Karabastau Formation of Kazakhstan, '' Kokartus'' from the Middle Jurassic Balabansai Formation of Kyrgyzstan, and '' Marmorerpeton'' from the Middle Jurassic Forest Marble Formation of England and Kilmaluag Formation of Scotland. The members are some of the oldest known salamanders. The family is united by several morphological characters, including sculptured skull roof bones. Like some modern salamanders, karaurids were neotenic. Members of the family likely fed via suction feeding Aquatic feeding mechanisms face a special difficulty as compared to feeding on land, because the density of water is about the same as that of the prey, so the prey tends to be pushed away when the mouth is closed. Thi ...
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Triassurus
''Triassurus'' is an extinct genus of amphibian, and the oldest member of Caudata (salamanders and close relalatives). It is known from the Middle to Upper Triassic ( Ladinian-Carnian) aged Madygen Formation in Kyrgyzstan. The type species is ''T. sixtelae''. Description The holotype specimen is a partial and poorly preserved skeleton (PIN-2584/10), including the skull. Holotype specimen had tiny skull just long, but it was probably a larva: the neural arches of the vertebrae were still paired and no vertebral centers show any degree of ossification. The skull closely resembles that of current salamanders, especially as regards the long space in the joint of the maxillary bones and the lack of bone connection between the pterygoid and the maxilla. There were about 20 presacral vertebrae, while the legs were small. In 2020, a more complete adult specimen (FG 596/V/20) with long skull was described. Classification ''Triassurus'' was first described in 1978, based on a fossil f ...
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Mole Salamander
The mole salamanders ( genus ''Ambystoma'') are a group of advanced salamanders endemic to North America. The group has become famous due to the presence of the axolotl (''A. mexicanum''), widely used in research due to its paedomorphosis, and the tiger salamander (''A. tigrinum, A. mavortium'') which is the official amphibian of many states, and often sold as a pet. General description Terrestrial mole salamanders are identified by having wide, protruding eyes, prominent costal grooves, and thick arms. Most have vivid patterning on dark backgrounds, with marks ranging from deep blue spots to large yellow bars depending on the species. Terrestrial adults spend most of their lives underground in burrows, either of their own making or abandoned by other animals. Some northern species may hibernate in these burrows throughout the winter. They live alone and feed on any available invertebrate. Adults spend little time in the water, only returning to the ponds of their bir ...
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Kokartus
''Kokartus'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric stem-group salamander (Caudata) from the Middle Jurassic Balabansai Formation of Kyrgyzstan. The absence of clear lines of arrested growth and annuli in long bones suggests that the animals lived in an environment with stable local conditions. Like other members of Karauridae, it is thought to have been neotenic. ''Kokartus'' is thought to have fed using suction feeding via the enlargement of the buccal cavity The buccal space (also termed the buccinator space) is a fascial space of the head and neck (sometimes also termed fascial tissue spaces or tissue spaces). It is a potential space in the cheek, and is paired on each side. The buccal space is super ... on small fish and invertebrates, with the well developed palatal dentition (teeth on the roof of the mouth) and marginal teeth helping to grasp prey. See also * Prehistoric amphibian * List of prehistoric amphibians References Prehistoric salamanders Middle Jurassic ...
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Karaurus Sharovi
''Karaurus'' (meaning ''head-tail'') is an extinct genus of stem-group salamander (Caudata) from the Middle to Late Jurassic (Callovian–Kimmeridgian) Karabastau Formation of Kazakhstan. It is one of the oldest salamanders known. ''Karaurus'' was large for a Jurassic salamander, about long, and very similar anatomically to modern salamanders. ''Karaurus'' is thought to have fed using suction feeding via the enlargement of the buccal cavity on small fish and invertebrates, with the well developed palatal dentition (teeth on the roof of the mouth) and marginal teeth helping to grasp prey. ''Karaurus'' is thought to form a clade with ''Kokartus'' from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) of Kyrgyzstan, and ''Marmorerpeton'' from the Bathonian of Britain, together forming the Karauridae, which are closely related to crown salamanders. Like other members of Karauridae, ''Karaurus'' is neotenic Neoteny (), also called juvenilization,Montagu, A. (1989). Growing Young. Bergin & Garvey: CT ...
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Cryptobranchoidea
The Cryptobranchoidea are a suborder of salamanders found in Asia, European Russia, and the United States. They are known as primitive salamanders, in contrast to Salamandroidea, the advanced salamanders. It has two living subdivisions, Cryptobranchidae, which includes Asian giant salamanders and hellbenders, and Hynobiidae, commonly known as Asian salamanders. Some species of the fully aquatic family Cryptobranchidae are known as giant salamanders due to their large size. The oldest members of the group are known from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) aged Yanliao Biota of China. Taxonomy This suborder contains only two families at present. All other members are extinct and are only known as fossils. *'' Chunerpeton'' Haifanggou Formation, China, Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) (neotenic, has alternatively been recovered outside of Cryptobranchoidea) *''Jeholotriton'' Haifanggou Formation, China, Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) (neotenic) *'' Pangerpeton'' Haifanggou Formation, China, ...
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Frog
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is known from the Early Triassic of Madagascar, but molecular clock dating suggests their split from other amphibians may extend further back to the Permian, 265 million years ago. Frogs are widely distributed, ranging from the tropics to subarctic regions, but the greatest concentration of species diversity is in tropical rainforest. Frogs account for around 88% of extant amphibian species. They are also one of the five most diverse vertebrate orders. Warty frog species tend to be called toads, but the distinction between frogs and toads is informal, not from taxonomy or evolutionary history. An adult frog has a stout body, protruding eyes, anteriorly-attached tongue, limbs folded underneath, and no tail (the tail of tailed frogs is an ext ...
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Marmorerpeton
''Marmorerpeton'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric stem group-salamanders that lived in Britain during the Bathonian stage of the Middle Jurassic. They are among the oldest known salamanders. Two species were named when the genus was first described by Susan E. Evans et al. in 1988, ''M''. ''freemani'', and ''M''. ''kermacki'', from fragmentary remains found via screenwashing in the Forest Marble Formation of England. Due to the size of their osteocytic lacunae suggesting a large genome size and some morphological characters, like the presence of calcified cartilage in the medulla of its humerus, it was assumed that ''Marmorerpeton'' was neotenic. New more complete remains of a new species ''M. wakei'' were described in 2022 from the Kilmaluag Formation of the Isle of Skye, Scotland. These conclusively demonstrated that ''Marmorerpeton'' was neotenic, and was a member of the family Karauridae, with the other two members of the family, ''Karaurus'' and ''Kokartus'' being know ...
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