User:Hemiauchenia/sandbox88
| Hemiauchenia/sandbox88 Temporal range: Early Cenomanian
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| Holotype skull of Yaksha perettii, dark grey represents preserved soft tissue | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | †Allocaudata |
| Family: | †Albanerpetontidae |
| Genus: | †Yaksha Daza et al, 2020 |
| Species: | †Y. perettii
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| Binomial name | |
| †Yaksha perettii Daza et al, 2020
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Yaksha perettii is an extinct species of Albanerpetontid amphibian, and the only species in the genus Yaksha. It is known from three specimens found in Cenomanian aged Burmese amber from Myanmar. The remains of Yaksha peretii are the best preserved of all albanerpetontids, which usually consist of isolated fragments or crushed flat, and have provided significant insights in the morphology and lifestyle of the group.
Discovery[edit]
The paratype specimen was originally described in 2016 amongst a collection of fossil lizard species from Burmese amber, and was initially identified as a stem-chameleon.[1] However Professor Susan E. Evans, a researcher who has extensively worked on albanerpetontids, recognised the specimen as belonging to the group.[2] Subequently, another specimen was discovered in the collection of gemologist Dr. Adolf Peretti, which would later become the holotype specimen.[3] The paper describing Yaksha perettii was published in November 2020 in the journal Science.[4]
Description[edit]
The species is known from three specimens, a small juvenile skeleton from the 2016 paper, a complete adult skull and lower jaws, and a partial adult postcranium. The adult skull was found with an associated hyoid entoglossal process, a long, rod like bone situated in the oral cavity, which was embedded in remnant tongue tissue. An analagous bone exists in chameleons, which enables ballistic feeding.[4]
Phylogeny[edit]
Yaksha perettii was found to be in a similar phylogenetic position to Shirerpeton, nested between the Early Cretaceous and Late Creaceous-Cenozoic species of Albanerpeton.[4]
References[edit]
- ^ Daza, Juan D.; Stanley, Edward L.; Wagner, Philipp; Bauer, Aaron M.; Grimaldi, David A. (March 2016). "Mid-Cretaceous amber fossils illuminate the past diversity of tropical lizards". Science Advances. 2 (3): e1501080. Bibcode:2016SciA....2E1080D. doi:10.1126/sciadv.1501080. ISSN 2375-2548. PMC 4783129. PMID 26973870.
- ^ Matsumoto, Ryoko; Evans, Susan E. (2018-01-03). Smith, Thierry (ed.). "The first record of albanerpetontid amphibians (Amphibia: Albanerpetontidae) from East Asia". PLOS ONE. 13 (1): e0189767. Bibcode:2018PLoSO..1389767M. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0189767. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 5752013. PMID 29298317.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - ^ "Earliest example of a rapid-fire tongue found in 'weird and wonderful' extinct amphibians". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
- ^ a b c Daza, Juan D.; Stanley, Edward L.; Bolet, Arnau; Bauer, Aaron M.; Arias, J. Salvador; Čerňanský, Andrej; Bevitt, Joseph J.; Wagner, Philipp; Evans, Susan E. (2020-11-06). "Enigmatic amphibians in mid-Cretaceous amber were chameleon-like ballistic feeders". Science. 370 (6517): 687–691. doi:10.1126/science.abb6005. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 33154135.