[Paleontology • 2026] Nabia civiscientrix • New albanerpetontid Species (Lissamphibia) from the Late Jurassic of Portugal

 

Nabia civiscientrix 

Guillaume, Evans, Jones, Puértolas-Pascual & Moreno-Azanza, 2026

DOI: doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2025.2580623

Illustration by Eva Carret

Abstract

The Albanerpetontidae are a group of small extinct lissamphibians ranging from the Bathonian to the early Pleistocene. The Upper Jurassic of Portugal is known to yield a large collection of albanerpetontid remains, ascribed to the genus Celtedens. However, recent studies have shown that the frontal bones used for species diagnosis display important intraspecific variation. Here, we describe 468 bones from the Kimmeridgian-Tithonian Lourinhã Formation, together with thousands of remains from the Guimarota beds of the Kimmeridgian Alcobaça Formation. They support the erection of a new genus and species, Nabia civiscientrix gen. et sp. nov., characterized by a unique combination of five synapomorphies: a bulbous/flabellate outline of the internasal process of the frontal in dorsal or ventral view; no sculpture on the postorbital wing of the parietals; the dorsal condyle of the axis with a recurved edge; the long axis of the iliac shaft strongly tilted posteriorly; and a limited pubic/ischial articulation flaring. This material represents the oldest albanerpetontid species from the Iberian Peninsula and potentially the third described from the Jurassic, during which time it played a major palaeobiogeographical role in relation to Europe, north-western Africa and North America. Our results further confirm the need to revise Celtedens. The material from the Lourinhã Formation suggests that other multi-specific microfossil vertebrate bonebeds should contain a greater variety of elements than is reported. We stress the need to review unpicked and unidentified material to look for postcranial bones rather than focusing only on cranial elements, as in combination they aid a better characterisation of this group.

 

Keywords: Albanerpetontidae, Kimmeridgian–Tithonian, Lourinhã Formation, Guimarota, systematics

Nabia civiscientrix gen. et sp. nov.

Alexandre R. D. Guillaume, Susan E. Evans, Marc E. H. Jones, Eduardo Puértolas-Pascual and Miguel Moreno-Azanza. 2026. New albanerpetontid Species (Lissamphibia) from the Late Jurassic of Portugal. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 24(1); 2580623. DOI: doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2025.2580623 [23 Jan 2026]

  

[Paleontology • 2018] Shirerpeton isajii • The First Record of Albanerpetontid Amphibians (Amphibia: Albanerpetontidae) from East Asia

Shirerpeton isajii

Matsumoto & Evans, 2018

  DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0189767 

llustration: Takumi Yamamoto

Abstract  

Albanerpetontids are an enigmatic fossil amphibian group known from deposits of Middle Jurassic to Pliocene age. The oldest and youngest records are from Europe, but the group appeared in North America in the late Early Cretaceous and radiated there during the Late Cretaceous. Until now, the Asian record has been limited to fragmentary specimens from the Late Cretaceous of Uzbekistan. This led to speculation that albanerpetontids migrated into eastern Asia from North America in the Albian to Cenomanian interval via the Beringian land bridge. However, here we describe albanerpetontid specimens from the Lower Cretaceous Kuwajima Formation of Japan, a record that predates their first known occurrence in North America. One specimen, an association of skull and postcranial bones from a single small individual, permits the diagnosis of a new taxon. High Resolution X-ray Computed Microtomography has revealed previously unrecorded features of albanerpetontid skull morphology in three dimensions, including the presence of a supraoccipital and epipterygoids, neither of which occurs in any known lissamphibian. The placement of this new taxon within the current phylogenetic framework for Albanerpetontidae is complicated by a limited overlap of comparable elements, most notably the non-preservation of the premaxillae in the Japanese taxon. Nonetheless, phylogenetic analysis places the new taxon closer to Albanerpeton than to Anoualerpeton, Celtedens, or Wesserpeton, although Bootstrap support values are weak. The results also question the monophyly of Albanerpeton as currently defined.

Fig 2. Shirerpeton isajii gen. et sp. nov., SBEI 2459, holotype block.
A, digital photograph showing surface view of the specimen after manual preparation; B, rendered view of the surface from μCT data showing identifications of exposed elements.

Abbreviations: Br, braincase elements; Fr, frontal; L.La, left lacrimal; L.Mx, left maxilla; L.N, left nasal; L.Pa, left parietal; LPf, left prefrontal; L.Sm, left septomaxilla; L.Sq, left squamosal; R.La, right lacrimal; R.Pa, right parietal; R.Pf, right prefrontal; R.Sq, right squamosal;?, unidentified element. Scale bars = 5 mm.

Fig 3. Shirerpeton isajii gen. et sp. nov., skull reconstruction.
A-D, Model construction. 3-D models constructed using printouts of the individually segmented elements from the μCT data (mirrored as needed: nasal, parietal, possible supratemporal) and fitted into modelling clay. A, dorsal; B, right lateral; C, left lateral; D, left anterolateral showing the relations of the nasal, lacrimal, and maxilla in the narial margin. The tip of the rostrum is roughly reconstructed in modelling clay. E, outline reconstruction of the skull in dorsal view, based on the 3-D model in A-D. Note that the suspensorial elements are omitted as their positions are uncertain.

Abbreviations: Fr, frontal; J, jugal; La, lacrimal; Mx, maxilla; N, nasal; Pa, parietal; Pf, prefrontal; S.O, supraoccipital;? St, possible supratemporal.

 Systematic palaeontology

Lissamphibia  

Albanerpetontidae  

Shirerpeton gen. nov.

Etymology: From the Japanese Shiro, white, partly for Shiramine, the type locality, but also because the family name, Albanerpetontidae, derives from the original French locality of La Grive-Saint-Alban, with Alba/Alban (Latin) meaning white.

Shirerpeton isajii sp. nov.

Holotype: Shiramine Board of Education Ishikawa Prefecture, SBEI 2459, a small block bearing most of a disarticulated but associated skull with some postcranial elements (Fig 2A). The specimen is housed in the Shiramine Institute of Paleontology, Hakusan Board of Education, Hakusan City, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan.

Etymology: Species name honours Dr Shinji Isaji, Chiba Prefecture Museum, Japan, for his longstanding work on the fossils, geology, and palaeoenvironment of the Kuwajima Formation.

....

    

Fig 41. Skull roofing bones in albanerpetontids (not to scale).
A, Shirerpeton isajii; B, Celtedens ibericus; C, Albanerpeton inexpectatum; D, Albanerpeton pannonicum.

Conclusions: 

The recovery of the new Japanese specimens sheds new light on albanerpetontid morphology and biogeography, but raises as many questions as it resolves. There is clearly much more to discover about these enigmatic little tetrapods, in terms of their morphology, relationships, and evolutionary history. Recent discoveries have demonstrated that the group had a more extensive temporal and geographical distribution in Asia than previously understood. Awareness of this among researchers may lead to further discoveries.

Ryoko Matsumoto and Susan E. Evans. 2018.  The First Record of Albanerpetontid Amphibians (Amphibia: Albanerpetontidae) from East Asia. PLoS ONE. 13(1); e0189767. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0189767

researchgate.net/publication/322238394_The_first_record_of_albanerpetontid_amphibians_from_East_Asia

化石：１．３億年前、新種の両生類　石川で３個体分 - 毎日新聞  mainichi.jp/articles/20180407/ddn/012/040/020000c

Amphibian fossil in Ishikawa recognized as new species： The Asahi Shimbun  asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201804210005.html

[Paleontology • 2017] Aphaneramma gavialimimus • A New Extreme Longirostrine Temnospondyl from the Triassic of Madagascar: Phylogenetic and Palaeobiogeographical Implications for Trematosaurids

Aphaneramma gavialimimus Fortuny, Gastou, Escuillié, Ranivoharimanana & Steyer, 2017

 DOI: 10.1080/14772019.2017.1335805   Life reconstruction by Marc Boulay | @JournalSystPal 

Aphaneramma gavialimimus

Fortuny, Gastou, Escuillié, Ranivoharimanana & Steyer, 2017

 DOI: 10.1080/14772019.2017.1335805 
  @JournalSystPal 

Abstract

Trematosaurids form a very large and remarkable clade of Triassic tetrapods (Temnospondyli: Stereospondyli) with a worldwide geographical distribution. Compared with specimens from Europe, Australia or North America, they remain relatively scarce in African rocks, where they are mainly known in the Early Triassic of Madagascar and South Africa. Longirostrine trematosaurids were only known from Madagascar, represented by the genus Wantzosaurus. However, we describe herein a new species of the longirostrine trematosaurid Aphaneramma, Aphaneramma gavialimimus sp. nov., from the Olenekian (Lower Triassic) of Madagascar. This genus was previously known from the Early Triassic of Europe and Asia. Based on a new nearly complete skull, the new species is characterized by a premaxilla-nasal suture anteriorly directed, not contacting the nostrils; choanae completely included within the palatines; the ventral opening of the orbits in the anterior part of the interpterygoid vacuities; a very elongated nasal covering more than 50% of the prenarial length; and an anteriorly widened cultriform process. Aphaneramma gavialimimus sp. nov., with a skull length of about 40 cm, may be one of the largest known trematosaurids. Its inclusion in a new phylogenetic analysis confirms its close affinities with the North American genus Cosgriffius, and clarifies the relationships of trematosaurids in general and lonchorhynchines in particular. The new species also increases the palaeobiodiversity of marine trematosaurs in Gondwana and allows discussing their apparently rapid cosmopolitanism just after the great Permian–Triassic mass extinction.

Keywords: Lonchorhynchinae, Olenekian, palaeobiogeography, Permian–Triassic mass extinction

Figure 1. Aphaneramma gavialimimus sp. nov., Lower Triassic of Madagascar in dorsal view. A, photograph of the holotype UAAmb007; B, photograph of the plastotype MNHN-6703; C, interpretative drawing. 

Systematic palaeontology

Temnospondyli Zittel, 1888

Stereospondyli Zittel, 1888

Trematosauria Romer, 1947 sensu Yates & Warren, 2000

Trematosauroidea Säve-Söderbergh, 1935 sensu Schoch, 2013

Family Trematosauridae Watson, 1919

Subfamily Lonchorhynchinae Säve-Söderbergh, 1935 sensu Steyer, 2002

Aphaneramma Smith Woodward, 1904

Type species. Aphaneramma rostratum Smith Woodward, 1904

(D ‘Lonchorhynchus obergi’ Wiman, 1910) from the early Olenekian of the Sticky Keep of Spitsbergen, Vikinghøgda Formation, Svalbard Archipelago, Norway.

Definition. All taxa sharing a more recent common ancestor with Aphaneramma rostratum than with Cosgriffius campi.

Aphaneramma gavialimimus sp. nov. 

 Etymology. Imitates a gharial (Gavialis gangeticus), due to the general shape similarity with this hyper-longirostral taxon.

Aphaneramma gavialimimus sp. nov., Lower Triassic of Madagascar.

 Life reconstruction by Marc Boulay  (MarcBoulay.fr). 

Josep Fortuny, Stéphanie Gastou, François Escuillié, Lovasoa Ranivoharimanana and J.-Sébastien Steyer. 2017. A New Extreme Longirostrine Temnospondyl from the Triassic of Madagascar: Phylogenetic and Palaeobiogeographical Implications for Trematosaurids. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.   DOI: 10.1080/14772019.2017.1335805  

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[Paleontology • 2013] Dimetrodon - Diplocaulus interaction | Finned Monster Chomped Heads Off Ancient Amphibians

An illustration of Dimetrodon extracting an unfortunate boomerang-head amphibian from its burrow. Shed teeth mingled with amphibian bones reveal that the fin-back ate these strange burrowing creatures in the Permian period.

Illustration: Robert Bakker

Finned Monster Chomped Heads Off Ancient Amphibians

— Talk about a creature feature: A bizarre boomerang-headed amphibian that burrowed in a seasonal pond in what is now Texas often met its doom in the jaws of a reptilian fin-backed mammalian ancestor, new fossils reveal.  

These two weird critters were residents of the Permian period 298 million to 250 million years ago, before dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Dimetrodon, the jaguar-size finback, looked like a lizard but was actually more closely related to modern mammals. Diplocaulus, the boomerang-head, was a truly strange amphibian with an impractically wide, bony skull.

"It's just so weird," said study researcher Robert Bakker, the curator of paleontology at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. "This is an example of unintelligent design."


Unintelligent though a broad head may have been for a burrowing creature, the boomerang-head managed to survive for 45 million years during the Permian, a period known for its extinctions, Bakker told LiveScience.

Bakker and his colleagues discovered the Dimetrodon and Diplocaulus interaction in the Craddock bone bed in Baylor County, Texas. The bone bed is scattered with the bodies of boomerang-heads, curled in what were once burrows. The amphibians seem to have burrowed into the mud to survive the dry season, the researchers reported here Monday (Oct. 28) at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America.

"The bed had a reputation of just being a stewpot with everything mixed together," Bakker said. "That's totally wrong. It's beautifully layered."

The excavations revealed that boomerang-heads were common in the pond — and that something was snacking on them.

"We have hundreds of these, mostly chewed, and even the guys in burrows got attacked," Bakker said.

The shed teeth, "like bullets in a crime scene," revealed the attacker to be Dimetrodon, he said. The finback's sharp fangs and long snout would have enabled it to bite boomerang-heads hiding in burrows, perhaps after partially excavating them with its sharp, digging claws.

One cluster of eight juvenile boomerang-heads was found stacked together, suggesting they all occupied the same burrow. Dimetrodon likely killed the top three, including one whose nose was bitten clean off (taking part of the brain with it). The other five boomerang-heads survived the Dimetrodon, only to perish during the next dry season, Bakker said.

The find corroborates a theory first posited by famed paleontologist E. C. Olson, who argued that Dimetrodon must have eaten the boomerang-headed amphibians.

"[Dimetrodons are] the equivalent of Velociraptor and T. rex, you'd think they'd be eating big plant-eaters," Bakker said. But there weren't many big plant-eaters in the Permian era, so Dimetrodon ate smaller amphibians instead. (The largest Diplocaulus skull ever found measured about 17 inches (43 centimeters) across, Bakker said.)

Finned monster chomped heads off ancient amphibians

http://www.livescience.com/40842-finned-monster-chomped-heads-off-ancient-amphibians.html

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/finned-monster-chomped-heads-ancient-amphibians-8C11511627

[Paleontology • 2000] Nanolania anatopretia • A new tiny rhytidosteid (Temnospondyli: Stereospondyli) from the Early Triassic of Australia and the possibility of hidden temnospondyl diversity

 Life restoration of Nanolania anatopretia.

by Smokeybjb http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanolania

A new genus and species of stereospondyl temnospondyl, Nanolcmia anatopretia, is described from the Early Triassic Arcadia Formation (Rewan Group) of Queensland, Australia. N. anatopretia has several character states that suggest it belongs to the group of derived trematosaurian stereospondyls that include the Rhytidosteidae and Brachyopoidea. These include the absence of a lacrimai, an untwisted quadrate ramus of the pterygoid, and a shallow otic notch. It is tentatively referred to the Rhytidosteidae. N. anatopretia is the third temnospondyl taxon from the Arcadia Formation to be represented by a skull less than 50 mm long. The others are the basal stereospondyl Lapillopsis nana, and juveniles of the capitosaurid Parotosuchus aliciae. Given that Lapillopsis nana and Nanolania anatopretia are not known from any larger specimens, and that the temnospondyl fauna from the Arcadia Formation has been well sampled, it is suggested that they are species that never grew large. It seems quite likely that a diverse array of small temnospondyls lived alongside the larger temnospondyls of the Triassic elsewhere in the world but have not been discovered due to biases working against the preservation and collection of small temnospondyl specimens.

 Yates, Adam M. 2000. A new tiny rhytidosteid (Temnospondyli: Stereospondyli) from the Early Triassic of Australia and the possibility of hidden temnospondyl diversity. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 20 (3): 484–489. doi: dx.doi.org/10.1671/0272-4634(2000)020[0484:ANTRTS]2.0.CO;2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanolania