亚博棋牌平台
Your source for the latest research news
Follow Subscribe RSS Feeds 亚博棋牌平台letters
New:
  • Planet Nine-Like Exoplanet Around Distant Star
  • Rapid Genomics Strategy to Trace Coronavirus
  • New Superhighway System in the Solar System
  • Sifting Out the First Gravitational Waves
  • Neanderthals Buried Their Dead: New Evidence
  • Spiders in Space: Making Webs Without Gravity
  • Pterosaur Precursors: Evolutionary Gap
  • Obesity Impairs Immune Cell Function
  • Science of Sandcastles Is Clarified, Finally
  • Risk of Advanced Cancers: Evolution to Blame?
advertisement
Follow all of 亚博棋牌平台's latest research news and top science headlines!
Science 亚博棋牌平台
from research organizations

1

2

Earliest example of a rapid-fire tongue found in 'weird and wonderful' extinct amphibians

Date:
November 5, 2020
Source:
Florida Museum of Natural History
Summary:
Fossils of bizarre, armored amphibians known as albanerpetontids provide the oldest evidence of a slingshot-style tongue, a new study shows.
Share:
FULL STORY

Fossils of bizarre, armored amphibians known as albanerpetontids provide the oldest evidence of a slingshot-style tongue, a new Science study shows.

advertisement

Despite having lizardlike claws, scales and tails, albanerpetontids -- mercifully called "albies" for short -- were amphibians, not reptiles. Their lineage was distinct from today's frogs, salamanders and caecilians and dates back at least 165 million years, dying out only about 2 million years ago.

Now, a set of 99-million-year-old fossils redefines these tiny animals as sit-and-wait predators that snatched prey with a projectile firing of their tongue -- and not underground burrowers, as once thought. The fossils, one previously misidentified as an early chameleon, are the first albies discovered in modern-day Myanmar and the only known examples in amber.

They also represent a new genus and species: Yaksha perettii, named after treasure-guarding spirits known as yakshas in Hindu literature and Adolf Peretti, the discoverer of two of the fossils.

"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."

A fortunate mistake

The discovery began with a bumble.

advertisement

In 2016, Stanley and Juan Diego Daza, lead author of the Science study and assistant professor of biological sciences at Sam Houston State University, published a paper presenting a dozen rare amber fossil lizards -- or so they thought. One juvenile specimen possessed a hodgepodge of bewildering characteristics, including a specialized tongue bone. After much debate and consultation with colleagues, the scientists finally labelled it an ancient chameleon, about 99 million years old, an estimate based on radiometric dating of crystals at the site where the fossil was found.

When she read the study, Susan Evans, professor of vertebrate morphology and paleontology at University College London and an albie expert, instantly recognized the puzzling specimen. It was no chameleon. She emailed Daza.

"I remember that as one of the worst days of my life," he said.

But the paper also attracted the attention of an unexpected collaborator: Peretti, a gemologist who contacted Daza about another collection of amber fossil lizards from the same region of Myanmar. (Note: The mining and sale of Burmese amber are often entangled with human rights abuses. Peretti acquired the fossils legally from companies that follow a strict ethical code. More details appear in an ethics statement at the end of this story).

Per Daza's recommendation, Peretti sent the collection to the University of Texas at Austin for CT scanning, a way of clarifying what lies inside. As Daza began cleaning up the scans, one fossil in particular caught his eye -- the complete skull of an adult albie.

advertisement

Most fossil albies are crushed flat or a jumble of bones in disarray. In 1995, Evans published the first description of a complete specimen, excavated in Spain, but "it was very much roadkill," she said. Even amber fossils suffer degradation, and soft tissues can mineralize, becoming difficult to work with.

This specimen, however, was not only three-dimensional, "it was in mint condition," Stanley said. "Everything was where it was supposed to be. There was even some soft tissue," including the tongue pad and parts of the jaw muscles and eyelids.

It was also the adult counterpart to the juvenile albie that had been mistaken for a chameleon.

When Daza sent the scan to Evans, she was dazzled by its rich detail.

"All my Christmases have come at once!" she wrote back.

'Weird and wonderful'

Once classified as salamanders, albies' stippled, reinforced skulls led many scientists to hypothesize they were diggers. No one imagined them as having chameleonlike lifestyles, Stanley said. But, he added, "if you're going to misidentify an albie as any kind of lizard, a chameleon is absolutely what you would land on."

Even though one is an amphibian and the other a reptile, they share several features, including claws, scales, massive eye sockets and -- we now know -- a projectile feeding mechanism.

The chameleon tongue is one of the fastest muscles in the animal kingdom and can rocket from 0 to 60 mph in a hundredth of a second in some species. It gets its speed from a specialized accelerator muscle that stores energy by contracting and then launching the elastic tongue with a recoil effect. If the earliest albies also had ballistic tongues, the feature is much older than the first chameleons, which may have appeared 120 million years ago. Fossil evidence indicates albies are at least 165 million years old, though Evans said their lineage must be much more ancient, originating more than 250 million years ago.

While armed with a rapid-fire tongue, Y. perettii was tiny: Based on the fossil skull, Daza estimates the adult was about 2 inches long, not including the tail. The juvenile was a quarter that size.

"We envision this as a stocky little thing scampering in the leaf litter, well hidden, but occasionally coming out for a fly, throwing out its tongue and grabbing it," Evans said.

The revelation that albies had projectile tongues helps explain some of their "weird and wonderful" features, such as unusual jaw and neck joints and large, forward-looking eyes, a common characteristic of predators, she said. They may also have breathed through their skin, as salamanders do.

Even though the specimens are remarkably preserved, Stanley said CT scanning was essential to the analysis, revealing fine-scale features obscured in the cloudy amber.

"They only come to life with CT scanning," he said. "Digital technology is really key with this amber material."

Digitization also enabled the researchers, scattered around the world and hunkered down during COVID-19 quarantines, to collaboratively analyze and describe the specimens -- and then make the same material digitally available to others.

How are albanerpetontids related to other amphibians?

Despite the level of preservation and completeness of the Y. perettii specimens, albies' exact place in the amphibian family tree remains a mystery. The researchers coded the specimens' physical characteristics and ran them through four models of amphibian relationships with no clear results. The animals' unusual combination of features is likely to blame, Evans said.

"In theory, albies could give us a clue as to what the ancestors of modern amphibians looked like," she said. "Unfortunately, they're so specialized and so weird in their own way that they're not helping us all that much."

But Y. perettii does put albies on a new part of the map. Northwest Myanmar was likely an island 99 million years ago and possibly a remnant from Gondwana, the ancient southern continental landmass. With two exceptions in Morocco, all other fossil albies have been found in North America, Europe and East Asia, which formerly formed a northern continental landmass. Daza said Y. perettii may have rafted to the island from mainland Asia or could represent a new southern record for the group.

We just missed them

With such a wide distribution, why did albies vanish into extinction while frogs, salamanders and caecilians still exist today?

We don't know. Albies almost survived to the present, fading out about 2 million years ago, possibly late enough to have crossed paths with our earliest hominid relatives, Evans said.

"We only just missed them. I keep hoping they're still alive somewhere."

make a difference: sponsored opportunity

Story Source:

provided by . Original written by Natalie van Hoose. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Juan D. Daza, Edward L. Stanley, Arnau Bolet, Aaron M. Bauer, J. Salvador Arias, Andrej Čerňanský, Joseph J. Bevitt, Philipp Wagner, Susan E. Evans. Enigmatic amphibians in mid-Cretaceous amber were chameleon-like ballistic feeders. Science, 2020 DOI:

Cite This Page:

  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
Florida Museum of Natural History. "Earliest example of a rapid-fire tongue found in 'weird and wonderful' extinct amphibians." 亚博棋牌平台. 亚博棋牌平台, 5 November 2020. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201105183832.htm>.
Florida Museum of Natural History. (2020, November 5). Earliest example of a rapid-fire tongue found in 'weird and wonderful' extinct amphibians. 亚博棋牌平台. Retrieved December 14, 2020 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201105183832.htm
Florida Museum of Natural History. "Earliest example of a rapid-fire tongue found in 'weird and wonderful' extinct amphibians." 亚博棋牌平台. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201105183832.htm (accessed December 14, 2020).

  • RELATED TOPICS
    • Plants & Animals
      • Frogs and Reptiles
      • New Species
      • Animals
      • Biology
    • Fossils & Ruins
      • Fossils
      • Ancient DNA
      • Origin of Life
      • Evolution
advertisement

  • RELATED TERMS
    • Amphibian
    • Trace fossil
    • Fossil
    • Tongue
    • Feathered dinosaurs
    • Frog zoology
    • Human evolution
    • Timeline of evolution

1

2

3

4

5
RELATED STORIES

Oldest Fossils Ever Found Show Life on Earth Began Before 3.5 Billion Years Ago
Dec. 18, 2017 — Researchers at UCLA and the University of Wisconsin-Madison have confirmed that microscopic fossils discovered in a nearly 3.5 billion-year-old piece of rock in Western Australia are the oldest ...
Tiny Fossils Reveal Backstory of the Most Mysterious Amphibian Alive
June 19, 2017 — The fossils of an extinct species from the Triassic Period are the long-missing link that connects Kermit the Frog's amphibian brethren to wormlike creatures with a backbone and two rows of sharp ...
Life Thrived on Young Earth: Scientists Discover 3.7-Billion-Year-Old Fossils
Aug. 31, 2016 — A team of Australian researchers has uncovered the world's oldest fossils in a remote area of Greenland, capturing the earliest history of the planet and demonstrating that life on Earth emerged ...
Portion of Ancient Australian Chert Microstructures Definitively Pseudo-Fossils
Feb. 16, 2016 — A team of scientists have weighed in on whether microstructures found in 3.46-billion-year-old samples of a silica-rich rock called chert found in Western Australia are the planet's oldest fossils. ...
FROM AROUND THE WEB

亚博棋牌平台 shares links with sites in the and earns revenue from third-party advertisers, where indicated.
  Print   Email   Share

advertisement

1

2

3

4

5
Most Popular
this week

PLANTS & ANIMALS
Diet Modifications -- Including More Wine and Cheese -- May Help Reduce Cognitive Decline, Study Suggests
Oral Drug Blocks SARS-CoV-2 Transmission, Researchers Find
(c) (c) anibal / AdobeNeanderthals Buried Their Dead: New Evidence
EARTH & CLIMATE
Research Reveals How Airflow Inside a Car May Affect COVID-19 Transmission Risk
(c) (c) Mopic / AdobeResearchers Uncover Key Clues About the Solar System's History
(c) (c) harvepino / AdobeGreenland Ice Sheet Faces Irreversible Melting
FOSSILS & RUINS
Boy or Girl? It's in the Father's Genes
(c) (c) Catmando / AdobePaleontologists Find Pterosaur Precursors That Fill a Gap in Early Evolutionary History
Blue-Eyed Humans Have a Single, Common Ancestor
advertisement

Strange & Offbeat
 

PLANTS & ANIMALS
One's Trash, Another's Treasure: Fertilizer Made from Urine Could Enable Space Agriculture
Unexpected Insights Into Early Dinosaur's Brain, Eating Habits and Agility
Embryonic Development in a Petri Dish
EARTH & CLIMATE
Chance Played a Major Role in Keeping Earth Fit for Life
The Moon Controls the Release of Methane in Arctic Ocean
Honey Bees Fend Off Giant Hornets With Animal Feces
FOSSILS & RUINS
Unexpected Insights Into Early Dinosaur's Brain, Eating Habits and Agility
Researcher Adds to Timeline of Human Evolution by Studying an Island Fox
New 'Sea Dragon' Discovered Off UK Coastline
SD
  • SD
    • Home Page
    • Top Science 亚博棋牌平台
    • Latest 亚博棋牌平台
  • Home
    • Home Page
    • Top Science 亚博棋牌平台
    • Latest 亚博棋牌平台
  • Health
    • View all the latest top news in the health sciences,
      or browse the topics below:
      Health & Medicine
      • Allergy
      • Alternative Medicine
      • Birth Control
      • Cancer
      • Diabetes
      • Diseases
      • Heart Disease
      • HIV and AIDS
      • Obesity
      • Stem Cells
      • ... more topics
      Mind & Brain
      • ADD and ADHD
      • Addiction
      • Alzheimer's
      • Autism
      • Depression
      • Headaches
      • Intelligence
      • Psychology
      • Relationships
      • Schizophrenia
      • ... more topics
      Living Well
      • Parenting
      • Pregnancy
      • Sexual Health
      • Skin Care
      • Men's Health
      • Women's Health
      • Nutrition
      • Diet and Weight Loss
      • Fitness
      • Healthy Aging
      • ... more topics
  • Tech
    • View all the latest top news in the physical sciences & technology,
      or browse the topics below:
      Matter & Energy
      • Aviation
      • Chemistry
      • Electronics
      • Fossil Fuels
      • Nanotechnology
      • Physics
      • Quantum Physics
      • Solar Energy
      • Technology
      • Wind Energy
      • ... more topics
      Space & Time
      • Astronomy
      • Black Holes
      • Dark Matter
      • Extrasolar Planets
      • Mars
      • Moon
      • Solar System
      • Space Telescopes
      • Stars
      • Sun
      • ... more topics
      Computers & Math
      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Communications
      • Computer Science
      • Hacking
      • Mathematics
      • Quantum Computers
      • Robotics
      • Software
      • Video Games
      • Virtual Reality
      • ... more topics
  • Enviro
    • View all the latest top news in the environmental sciences,
      or browse the topics below:
      Plants & Animals
      • Agriculture and Food
      • Animals
      • Biology
      • Biotechnology
      • Endangered Animals
      • Extinction
      • Genetically Modified
      • Microbes and More
      • New Species
      • Zoology
      • ... more topics
      Earth & Climate
      • Climate
      • Earthquakes
      • Environment
      • Geography
      • Geology
      • Global Warming
      • Hurricanes
      • Ozone Holes
      • Pollution
      • Weather
      • ... more topics
      Fossils & Ruins
      • Ancient Civilizations
      • Anthropology
      • Archaeology
      • Dinosaurs
      • Early Humans
      • Early Mammals
      • Evolution
      • Lost Treasures
      • Origin of Life
      • Paleontology
      • ... more topics
  • Society
    • View all the latest top news in the social sciences & education,
      or browse the topics below:
      Science & Society
      • Arts & Culture
      • Consumerism
      • Economics
      • Political Science
      • Privacy Issues
      • Public Health
      • Racial Disparity
      • Religion
      • Sports
      • World Development
      • ... more topics
      Business & Industry
      • Biotechnology & Bioengineering
      • Computers & Internet
      • Energy & Resources
      • Engineering
      • Medical Technology
      • Pharmaceuticals
      • Transportation
      • ... more topics
      Education & Learning
      • Animal Learning & Intelligence
      • Creativity
      • Educational Psychology
      • Educational Technology
      • Infant & Preschool Learning
      • Learning Disorders
      • STEM Education
      • ... more topics
  • Quirky
    • Top 亚博棋牌平台
    • Human Quirks
    • Odd Creatures
    • Bizarre Things
    • Weird World
Free Subscriptions

Get the latest science news with 亚博棋牌平台's free email newsletters, updated daily and weekly. Or view hourly updated newsfeeds in your RSS reader:

  • Email 亚博棋牌平台letters
  • RSS Feeds
Follow Us

Keep up to date with the latest news from 亚博棋牌平台 via social networks:

Have Feedback?

Tell us what you think of 亚博棋牌平台 -- we welcome both positive and negative comments. Have any problems using the site? Questions?

  • Leave Feedback
  • Contact Us
About This Site  |  Staff  |  Reviews  |  Contribute  |  Advertise  |  Privacy Policy  |  Editorial Policy  |  Terms of Use
亚博棋牌平台 foodfornoobs.com Copyright 2020 亚博棋牌平台 or by other parties, where indicated. All rights controlled by their respective owners.
Content on this website is for information only. It is not intended to provide medical or other professional advice.
Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of 亚博棋牌平台, its staff, its contributors, or its partners.
Financial support for 亚博棋牌平台 comes from advertisements and referral programs, where indicated.
— CCPA: Do Not Sell My Information — — GDPR: Privacy Settings —