Caudata

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Not to be confused with Caudate.

Caudates
Temporal range:
Middle Triassic – Present, 237–0 Ma
Northern Two-lined Salamander Eurycea bislineata.jpg
Northern Two-lined Salamander, Eurycea bislineata
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Superorder: Batrachia
Clade: Caudata
Scopoli, 1777
Subgroups

The Caudata are a group of amphibians containing the salamanders (Urodela) and all extinct species of salamander-like 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.[1]

Evolution[]

The origins and evolutionary relationships between the three main groups of amphibians (apodans, urodeles and anurans) is a matter of debate. A 2005 molecular phylogeny, based on rDNA analysis, suggested that the first divergence between these three groups took place soon after they had branched from the lobe-finned fish in the Devonian (around 360 million years ago), and before the breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea. The briefness of this period, and the speed at which radiation took place, may help to account for the relative scarcity of amphibian fossils that appear to be closely related to lissamphibians.[2] However, more recent studies have generally found more recent (Late Carboniferous[3] to Permian[4]) age for the basalmost divergence among lissamphibians.

The first known fossil salamanders were Kokartus honorarius from the Middle Jurassic of Kyrgyzstan and two species of the apparently neotenic, aquatic Marmorerpeton from England[5] of a similar date.[6] They looked superficially like robust modern salamanders but lacked a number of anatomical features that characterise all modern salamanders. Karaurus sharovi from the Upper Jurassic of Kazakhstan resembled modern mole salamanders in morphology and probably had a similar burrowing lifestyle.[1] In 2020, new specimens of the previously enigmatic tetrapod Triassurus from the Middle Triassic of Kyrgyzstan were described, revealing it to be the oldest known caudatan.[7]

The Cryptobranchoidea (primitive salamanders) and the Salamandroidea, also known as Diadectosalamandroidei, (advanced salamanders) are believed to be sister groups. Both seem to have appeared before the end of the Jurassic, the former being exemplified by Chunerpeton tianyiensis, Pangerpeton sinensis, Jeholotriton paradoxus, Regalerpeton weichangensis, Liaoxitriton daohugouensis and Iridotriton hechti, and the latter by Beiyanerpeton jianpingensis. By the Upper Cretaceous, most or all of the living salamander families had probably appeared.[1]

All known fossil salamanders and all extinct species fall under the order Caudata, while sometimes the extant species are grouped together as the Urodela.[8][9] There are about 655 extant species of salamander.[1]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d Naish, Darren (2013-10-01). "The amazing world of salamanders". Scientific American. Retrieved 2014-01-14.
  2. ^ San Mauro, Diego; Vences, Miguel; Alcobendas, Marina; Zardoya, Rafael; Meyer, Axel (2005). "Initial diversification of living amphibians predated the breakup of Pangaea" (PDF). The American Naturalist. 165 (5): 590–599. doi:10.1086/429523. PMID 15795855. S2CID 17021360.
  3. ^ San Mauro, D. (2010). "A multilocus timescale for the origin of extant amphibians". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 56 (3): 554–561. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.04.019. PMID 20399871.
  4. ^ Marjanović D, Laurin M (2007). "Fossils, molecules, divergence times, and the origin of lissamphibians". Systematic Biology. 56 (3): 369–388. doi:10.1080/10635150701397635. PMID 17520502.
  5. ^ de Buffrénil V, Canoville A, Evans SE, Laurin M (2014). "Histological study of karaurids, the oldest known (stem) urodeles". Historical Biology. 27 (1): 109–114. doi:10.1080/08912963.2013.869800. S2CID 83557507.
  6. ^ Marjanovic D, Laurin M (2014). "An updated paleontological timetree of lissamphibians, with comments on the anatomy of Jurassic crown-group salamanders (Urodela)". Historical Biology. 26 (4): 535–550. doi:10.1080/08912963.2013.797972. S2CID 84581331.
  7. ^ Schoch, Rainer R.; Werneburg, Ralf; Voigt, Sebastian (2020-05-26). "A Triassic stem-salamander from Kyrgyzstan and the origin of salamanders". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 117 (21): 11584–11588. doi:10.1073/pnas.2001424117. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 7261083. PMID 32393623.
  8. ^ Larson, A.; Dimmick, W. (1993). "Phylogenetic relationships of the salamander families: an analysis of the congruence among morphological and molecular characters". Herpetological Monographs. 7 (7): 77–93. doi:10.2307/1466953. JSTOR 1466953.
  9. ^ Blackburn, D.C.; Wake, D.B. (2011). "Class Amphibia Gray, 1825. In: Zhang, Z.-Q. (Ed.) Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification and survey of taxonomic richness" (PDF). Zootaxa. 3148: 39–55. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3148.1.8.
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