Palaeocast25 Jan 2023

Episode 151: Lissamphibian Origins Pt1

Caecilians, sometimes known as 'blind worms', are a lesser-known group of lissamphibians (all living amphibians). Most modern caecilians are all fossorial (burrowing) and are restricted to the moist soils and leaf litter of tropical forests. Adaptation to this specific ecology has led to radical modification of their bodies, from fusion of the bones in the head and the function of the jaw, to the loss of limbs and development of unique sensory organs.

The fossil record of caecilians is incredibly poor, with only 10 specimens available for researchers to piece together their evolutionary history with. This is further problematic because without a firm understanding of caecilian evolution, we can't understand the origins of lissamphibians, which includes the ecologically significant groups of frogs and salamanders.

Published in Nature today, a new study led by Ben Kligman, Petrified Forest National Park and Virginia Tech, details numerous specimens of a new fossil caecilian. Discovered within a Triassic deposit, Funcusvermis gilmorei is not only the oldest known caecilian, but it also displays a unique combination of anatomical characteristics that helps illuminate the evolutionary origins of caecilians and all lissamphibians.

Whilst this discovery goes some way to answer some of the bigger questions, other problems that are raised, most notably why there is such an over-representation of Funcusvermis's lower right jaw.

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(245)

Episode 176: Insect Gigantism Pt2

The Carboniferous period is host to some of the largest arthropods to have ever lived. Giant taxa such as the griffenfly Meganuera and the millipede Arthropleura are almost talismanic and are often de...

13 Maj 48min

Episode 175: Insect Gigantism Pt1

2 Maj 39min

Episode 174: A History of Dinosaurs in 50 Fossils

Prof. Paul Barrett of the Natural History Museum, London, recently authored A History of Dinosaurs in 50 Fossils. We took this as an opportunity to get an overview of what we really know about dinosau...

15 Apr 58min

Episode 173: Petrified Forest

Petrified Forest National Park in northeastern Arizona, USA is a hub for Triassic palaeontology and has exposures representing 20 million years of the Late Triassic Chinle Formation. Visitors marvel a...

17 Mars 49min

Episode 172: Rhynchocephalians

Today, there is only one living species of rhynchocephalian: the tuatara of Aotearoa/New Zealand. Despite today's paucity of species, this was once a diverse group of reptiles, with a wide range of li...

5 Feb 52min

Episode 171: Freshwater Mosasaurs

We've been given exclusive access to a brand new study examining the chemistry of a mosasaur tooth found within the Late Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation, North Dakota. The remarkable circumstances of ...

12 Dec 20251h 34min

SVP 2025

3 Dec 202557min

Episode 170: Cariocecus bocagei

The iguanodontians were an incredibly successful group within the Cretaceous. They could reach incredible sizes, with the largest species even matching the proportions of some sauropods, and they also...

19 Sep 20251h 50min