A new Early Cretaceous salamander ( Regalerpeton weichangensis gen. et sp. nov.) from the Huajiying Formation of northeastern China

Recent discoveries of well-preserved Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous salamander fossils from China are helping to resolve highly controversial aspects of caudate phylogeny. Here we report on a new Early Cretaceous salamander, Regalerpeton weichangensis gen. et sp. nov., from the Huajiying Formati...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inCretaceous research Vol. 30; no. 3; pp. 551 - 558
Main Authors Zhang, Guilin, Wang, Yuan, Jones, Marc E.H., Evans, Susan E.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2009
Subjects
Caudate phylogeny
China
Early Cretaceous
Huajiying Formation
Jehol Biota
Salamander
Salamander
Huajiying Formation
Jehol Biota
Caudate phylogeny
Early Cretaceous
China
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Recent discoveries of well-preserved Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous salamander fossils from China are helping to resolve highly controversial aspects of caudate phylogeny. Here we report on a new Early Cretaceous salamander, Regalerpeton weichangensis gen. et sp. nov., from the Huajiying Formation in Hebei Province, China. This specimen is characterized by long, arched vomerine tooth rows running parallel to the maxillary arcade; a long and tapered anterior ramus of the pterygoid that curves anteromedially; an ossified hyobranchium with one pair of hypobranchials and two pairs of ceratobranchials; and scapulocoracoids with greatly expanded, approximately rectangular coracoid components. Phylogenic analysis places Regalerpeton as the sister group to a Cryptobranchidae clade including Chunerpeton, with Jeholotriton and Pangerpeton as successive sister taxa.
ISSN:0195-6671
1095-998X
DOI:10.1016/j.cretres.2008.10.004