Andrias matthewi Temporal range: [1]
| |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | |
Phylum: | |
Class: | |
Order: | |
Family: | |
Genus: | |
Species: | †Andrias matthewi (Cook, 1917)[2]
|
Synonyms | |
|
Andrias matthewi, Matthew's giant salamander,[4] is an extinct species of giant salamander from the Miocene of North America. It is the largest salamander to have ever existed, with a maximum estimated length of 2.3 m (7 ft 7 in).[5] Its fossils have been found in Nebraska, Colorado, and Saskatchewan.[1]
Taxonomy
In 1917, Harold Cook named the new genus and species Plicagnathus matthewi for a dentary from the "lower Snake Creek beds"[a] of Nebraska.[2] The species was named in honor of William Diller Matthew, who first identified the specimen.[2] In 1963, Joseph Tihen and Charles Chantell named the new species Cryptobranchus mccalli for two maxillae from the Valentine Formation of Nebraska.[3] Charles Meszoely synonymized C. mccalli with P. matthewi and Plicagnathus with Andrias in 1966, leading to the current name Andrias matthewi.[7] Bruce Naylor synonymized Andrias with Cryptobranchus in 1981, resulting in the combination Cryptobranchus matthewi,[5] but this was not accepted by subsequent authors.[1]
Size
Cook estimated a length of 1.52 m (5 ft 0 in) based on the holotype dentary.[2] Meszoely estimated lengths of 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) and 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) from a referred maxilla and dentary, respectively, from the Marsland Formation of Nebraska.[7] Naylor estimated a length of 2.3 m (7 ft 7 in) using two vertebrae from the Wood Mountain Formation of Saskatchewan.[5] In comparison, the largest living salamander, the South China giant salamander (Andrias sligoi), reaches lengths of 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in).[8]
Notes
- ^ This unit was later renamed to the Olcott Formation.[6]
References
- ^ a b c Holman, J.A. (2006). Fossil Salamanders of North America. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. pp. 71–73. ISBN 0-253-34732-7.
- ^ a b c d Cook, H.J. (1917). "First recorded amphibian from the Tertiary of Nebraska". Bulletin of the Geological Society of America. 28: 213.
- ^ a b Tihen, J.A.; Chantell, C.J. (1963). "Urodele remains from the Valentine Formation of Nebraska". Copeia. 1963 (3): 505-510. doi:10.2307/1441470.
- ^ Holman, J.A. (1976). "The herpetofauna of the lower Valentine Formation, north-central Nebraska". Herpetologica. 32 (3): 262-268.
- ^ a b c Naylor, B.G. (1981). "Cryptobranchid salamanders from the Paleocene and Miocene of Saskatchewan". Copeia. 1981 (1): 76-86. doi:10.2307/1444042.
- ^ Skinner, M.F.; Skinner, S.M.; Gooris, R.J. (1977). "Stratigraphy and biostratigraphy of late Cenozoic deposits in central Sioux County, western Nebraska". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 158 (5): 263-370.
- ^ a b Meszoely, C. (1966). "North American fossil cryptobranchid salamanders". The American Midland Naturalist. 75 (2): 495-515. doi:10.2307/2423407.
- ^ Turvey, S.T.; Marr, M.M.; Barnes, I.; Brace, S.; Tapley, B.; Murphy, R.W.; Zhao, E.; Cunningham, A.A. (2019). "Historical museum collections clarify the evolutionary history of cryptic species radiation in the world's largest amphibians". Ecology and Evolution. 9 (18): 10070–10084. doi:10.1002/ece3.5257.