A New Ancient Family of Frogs
Posted on: Saturday, 13 March 2004, 06:00 CST
Studies on the early evolution of neobatrachian frogs have been hampered by the dearth of Mesozoic fossils in this group. The authors report a new genus and species of burrowing frog from the Western Ghats in India. This frog, Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis, shares some osteological characters in common with other neobatrachian frogs, but also has a unique combination of external and skeletal characters that suggest its recognition as a new family (Nasikabatrachidae). Skeletal and molecular data (2.8 kb of mitochondria! and nuclear DNA) identify the Seychellian Sooglossidae as the sister taxon to the new family. The finding supports the hypothesis that Sooglossidae were present on IndoMadagascar during the Late lurassic/Early Cretaceous and subsequently became extinct in India and Madagascar. The Nasikabatrachidae/Sooglossidae clade diverged before the split between India and the Seychelles at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary. Additional Cretaceous fossils are needed to understand fully the phylogeny and biogeography of early Indo-Madagascar neobatrachians.
BIJU, S. D., AND F. BOSSUYT. 2003. New frog family from India reveals an ancient biogeographical link with the Seychelles. Nature 425:711-714.
Correspondence to: S. D. Biju, Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute, Palode, Thiruvananthapuram, 695562 Kerala, India.
Copyright Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles Mar 2004
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