INVESTIGADORES
ARIAS BECERRA Joan Salvador
artículos
Título:
Enigmatic amphibians in mid-Cretaceous amber were chameleon-like ballistic feeders
Autor/es:
DAZA, JUAN D.; STANLEY, EDWARD L.; BOLET, ARNAU; BAUER, AARON M.; ARIAS, J. SALVADOR; CERNANSKY, ANDREJ; BEVITT, JOSEPH J.; WAGNER, PHILIPP; EVANS, SUSAN E.
Revista:
SCIENCE
Editorial:
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
Referencias:
Año: 2020 vol. 370 p. 687 - 691
ISSN:
0036-8075
Resumen:
Albanerpetontids are tiny, enigmatic fossil amphibians with a distinctive suite of characteristics, including scales and specialized jaw and neck joints. Here we describe a new genus and species of albanerpetontid, represented by fully articulated and three-dimensional specimens preserved in amber. These specimens preserve skeletal and soft tissues, including an elongated median hyoid element, the tip of which remains embedded in a distal tongue pad. This arrangement is very similar to the long, rapidly projecting tongue of chameleons. Our results thus suggest that albanerpetontids were sit-and-wait ballistic tongue feeders, extending the record of this specialized feeding mode by around 100 million years.
