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Enigmatic amphibians in mid-Cretaceous amber were chameleon-like ballistic feeders

Daza, Juan D.; Stanley, Edward L.; Bolet, Arnau; Bauer, Aaron M.; Arias, J. Salvador; Cernansky, Andrej; Bevitt, Joseph J.; Wagner, Philipp; Evans, Susan E.

SCIENCE
2020
VL / 370 - BP / 687 - EP / +
abstract
Albanerpetontids are tiny, enigmatic fossil amphibians with a distinctive suite of characteristics, including scales and specialized jaw and neck joints. Here we describe a new genus and species of albanerpetontid, represented by fully articulated and three-dimensional specimens preserved in amber. These specimens preserve skeletal and soft tissues, including an elongated median hyoid element, the tip of which remains embedded in a distal tongue pad. This arrangement is very similar to the long, rapidly projecting tongue of chameleons. Our results thus suggest that albanerpetontids were sit-and-wait ballistic tongue feeders, extending the record of this specialized feeding mode by around 100 million years.

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