(LINKS TO PAST FOSSIL FRIDAYS)
Community
College (LRCCD)
Geology & Earth Science Instructor: Arthur Reed, P.G.
Happy Fossil Friday!
Friday April 30, 2021
Fossil
in Amber Enables Identification of Earliest Species of a ‘Tongue-Thrower’
Albanerpetontids,
or “albies” for short, are the cute little salamander-like amphibians you have
likely never heard of.
Now
extinct, Albies had a dream run. They had been around since the Middle Jurassic
around 165 million years ago, and probably even earlier. They lived through the
age of dinosaurs (and saw out their extinction), then lived through the rise of
the great apes, before quietly disappearing only about 2.5 million years ago
(maybe you can still find a live one and publish a research paper?).
The
above near-perfect albanerpetontid fossil was found recently in Myanmar,
preserved in amber ‘Jurassic Park’ style.
Paleontologists were able to scan it to create a near perfect 3D
representation without disturbing the original and christen it as a new
species. The technology and study put
into it is fascinating, described in the following article, and further
explained by the actual researchers in the included (linked) 36-minute video.
Also included below is a 3D view of its skull, and an example of a
‘tongue-thrower’ in today’s chameleon.
I
hope you find it interesting!
Artist
depiction of Yaksha perettii just before being encased in amber
10 second 3D video of skull in rotation https://youtu.be/QzXjCIPMJeE
1 minute chameleon tongue short video: https://youtu.be/z3oh73amxQo
Full-story Video: https://youtu.be/jO2cHlujLDM
Following
article is from Zime Science,
November 6, 2020
in Biology, Fossil
Friday, News, Science
New
research looking at some old fossils uncovers a novel species of amphibians.
The animal belonged to the albanerpetontid family and provides the oldest known
evidence of a slingshot-style tongue.
The
skull encased in amber. Image credits Florida Museum / Edward Stanley.
The
fossils had been previously analyzed and mistakenly interpreted as belonging to
a species of ancient chameleons. However, the new study comes to show that
despite having lizardlike claws, scales, and tails, albanerpetontids (or
‘albies’) were actually amphibians. They belonged to a lineage that’s distinct
from modern frogs, salamanders, and caecilians. This lineage developed over
some 165 million years and died out roughly 2 million years ago.
The
fossils described in this study are roughly 99 million years old, and help
showcase how the albies hunted: lying in wait for potential prey, then
launching their tongue at them, similarly to modern chameleons. This fossil
specimen (previously misidentified as an early chameleon) is the first albie
discovered in modern-day Myanmar and the only known example in amber. The
species was christened Yaksha perettii, after treasure-guarding
spirits known as yakshas in Hindu literature and Adolf Peretti, who discovered
the fossil.
Don’t
judge a fossil by its tongue.
“This
discovery adds a super-cool piece to the puzzle of this obscure group of weird
little animals,” said study
co-author Edward Stanley, director of the Florida Museum of Natural History’s
Digital Discovery and Dissemination Laboratory. “Knowing they had this
ballistic tongue gives us a whole new understanding of this entire lineage.”
The
initial misidentification of the species came down to the fossils it was
described from: a juvenile individual with a hodgepodge of characteristics,
including a specialized tongue bone. The paper describing them sparked an international
collaboration to better correctly identify the fossils, after Susan Evans,
professor of vertebrate morphology and paleontology at University College
London and an albie expert, recognized some of the characteristics. Together
with Peretti, the researchers sent the specimen together with similar
amber-encased ones to the University of Texas at Austin for computer tomography
(CT) scanning.
An
X-ray of the skull showing its long hyoid bone, which provided support for the
tongue, jutting from the back. Image credits Florida Museum / Edward Stanley.
CT
scan of the skull. Preserved soft tissues are shown in pink. Image credits
Florida Museum / Edward Stanley.
It
was found that the amber-encased specimen was in “mint condition” (which tends
to be rare for albies). It was also, luckily, an adult counterpart of the
juvenile that has previously misidentified.
“Everything
was where it was supposed to be. There was even some soft tissue,” says Evans.
The
excellent quality of the specimen allowed the team to dispel some wrong
assumptions about the species. Their reinforced skulls have led researchers to
hypothesize that they were a species of digging salamanders. Several other
shared features, most notably their claws, scales, and large eye sockets, were
also reminiscent of reptiles. The albie also likely had a ballistic tongue
similar to those of chameleons today.
Based
on the skull, the researchers estimate that Y. perettii was
about 2 inches long, not including the tail. The juvenile was a quarter that
size. It relied on its fast tongue (the chameleon tongue can go from 0 to 60
mph in a hundredth of a second, being one of the fastest muscles in the animal
kingdom) to hunt for insects, and would otherwise try to keep hidden among the
brush, the team believes.
Its
predatory nature and projectile tongue also help explain its other “weird and
wonderful” features, including unusual jaw and neck joints and large,
forward-looking eye sockets. It’s also likely they breathed through their skin
like salamanders do, but this is still unconfirmed.
Although
the specimens were in excellent condition, the team remains unsure where they
fit in the amphibian family tree due to its unusual combination of features.
“In
theory, albies could give us a clue as to what the ancestors of modern
amphibians looked like,” Evan says. “Unfortunately, they’re so specialized and
so weird in their own way that they’re not helping us all that much.”
No
albies are known to have survived to modern times, but they only faded out
about 2 million years ago — which means they might have crossed paths with our
earlier hominid relatives.
“We
only just missed them. I keep hoping they’re still alive somewhere,” Evan adds.
The
paper “Enigmatic amphibians in mid-Cretaceous amber were chameleon-like
ballistic feeders” has been published in the
journal Science.