Indobatrachus
Species of amphibian
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Indobatrachus (Greek for "Indian frog") is an extinct genus of frog known from the Early Paleocene (Danian) of India.[1][2] It contains a single species, Indobatrachus pusillus. Two other species, I. trivialis and I. malabaricus, were also previously described, but these have since been synonymized with I. pusillus.[3][4]
| Indobatrachus Temporal range: Early Paleocene, | |
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| Illustration of fossil specimens | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Anura |
| Suborder: | Neobatrachia |
| Genus: | †Indobatrachus Noble, 1930 |
| Species: | †I. pusillus |
| Binomial name | |
| †Indobatrachus pusillus (Owen, 1847) | |
| Synonyms | |
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Indobatrachus was a very small frog, only 20 millimetres (0.79 in) long as an adult. It is known from numerous complete but poorly-preserved specimens (known by Richard Owen as "batracholites") from the Intertrappean Beds of Worli Hill, Mumbai. The stratigraphy of the specimens is disputed; they were originally dated to the Early Eocene, but later thought to be latest Cretaceous in age (66 mya).[5][6] However, more recently, the intertrappean rocks around Mumbai have been dated to the late Danian, around 62.5 million years ago, representing the youngest eruptive event in the western Deccan volcanic province.[2][7]
The taxonomy of this genus is debated; it was previously classified within the Australian frog superfamily Myobatrachoidea by many authors, including Owen, but such a relationship is now considered dubious or untenable, with only some vertebral similarities linking the two groups.[5][6][8] Alternatively, it may represent a member of the superfamily Sooglossoidea, another ancient group that is thought to have originated on Insular India during the Cretaceous.[9]