A giant frog with South American affinities from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorEvans, S.
dc.contributor.authorJones, M.
dc.contributor.authorKrause, D.
dc.date.issued2008
dc.description.abstractMadagascar has a diverse but mainly endemic frog fauna, the biogeographic history of which has generated intense debate, fueled by recent molecular phylogenetic analyses and the near absence of a fossil record. Here, we describe a recently discovered Late Cretaceous anuran that differs strikingly in size and morphology from extant Malagasy taxa and is unrelated either to them or to the predicted occupants of the Madagascar-Seychelles-India landmass when it separated from Africa 160 million years ago (Mya). Instead, the previously undescribed anuran is attributed to the Ceratophryinae, a clade previously considered endemic to South America. The discovery offers a rare glimpse of the anuran assemblage that occupied Madagascar before the Tertiary radiation of mantellids and microhylids that now dominate the anuran fauna. In addition, the presence of a ceratophryine provides support for a controversial paleobiogeographical model that posits physical and biotic links among Madagascar, the Indian subcontinent, and South America that persisted well into the Late Cretaceous. It also suggests that the initial radiation of hyloid anurans began earlier than proposed by some recent estimates.
dc.description.statementofresponsibilitySusan E. Evans, Marc E. H. Jones, and David W. Krause
dc.identifier.citationProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008; 105(8):2951-2956
dc.identifier.doi10.1073/pnas.0707599105
dc.identifier.issn0027-8424
dc.identifier.issn1091-6490
dc.identifier.orcidJones, M. [0000-0002-0146-9623]
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2440/86847
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherNational Academy of Sciences
dc.rights© 2008 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA
dc.source.urihttps://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0707599105
dc.subjectAnura
dc.subjectCeratophryinae
dc.subjectGondwana
dc.subjectSouth America
dc.subjectHyloidea
dc.titleA giant frog with South American affinities from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished

Files

Collections

Ecology, Evolution and Landscape Science publications