Nevobatrachus Temporal range: Lower Cretaceous,
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Amphibia |
Order: | Anura |
Genus: | Nevobatrachus Mahony, 2019 |
Species: | N. gracilis
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Binomial name | |
Nevobatrachus gracilis (Nevo, 1968)
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Nevobatrachus gracilis is the only[1] species in the extinct genus Nevobatrachus, a genus of prehistoric frogs. The original generic name of this frog was Cordicephalus Nevo (1968); however, this generic name turned out to be preoccupied by a cestode genus Cordicephalus Wardle, McLeod & Stewart (1947), which remains nomenclaturally available in spite of being considered a junior synonym of the diphyllobothriid genus Pyramicocephalus. Mahony (2019) coined a replacement name Nevobatrachus.[2] Fossils of N. gracilis were found in a lacustrine deposit in Makhtesh Ramon called "Amphibian Hill" and it is believed they lived during the Lower Cretaceous.[3]
When first described by Eviatar Nevo of the University of Haifa[4] (in 1968) the genus Cordicephalus was thought to contain two species, C. gracilis and C. longicostatus.[5] Since then it was redescribed and it was determined that N. gracilis was the only species in the genus.[1]
The original genus' name derives from the Latin cordi (cor meaning heart) and cephalus (meaning head). The name comes from the heart-like shape of its skull. The species name, gracilis, comes from the Latin for slender.[6] The replacement generic name is derived from the surname of Eviatar Nevo and from batrachus, a Greek word for a frog.[2]
Like its close relatives, N. gracilis was fairly small, about 30 millimetres (1.2 in) in length. It had a flat skull which was almost as wide as it was long, features usually found in aquatic animals. Other features that support that view that N. gracilis had a mainly aquatic lifestyle is its short axial column as well as large foot bones which may imply extensive webbing.[1]
Nevobatrachus is considered to be a member of the clade Pipimorpha, related to the living family Pipidae.[2]