The oldest frog
fossils known from North America were discovered recently in the Chinle
Formation of Arizona, USA. These fossils were identified from fragments of pelvic
bone fossils no bigger than a fingernail according to reporter Josh Gabbatiss
in his article from The Independent. The fossils date to approximately
216 million years ago, or the Jurassic Period. This suggests that these tiny
amphibians, no bigger than a fingertip, coexisted with the megafauna dinosaurs
we know so well today. The article recalls that the oldest known frog fossils
are from Madagascar and Poland, and date to about 250 million years ago, or the
Triassic Period. The Arizona fossils were discovered alongside crocodilian-type
fossils using a new, microfossil collection technique. Dr. Michelle Stoker, the
paleontologist who discovered the fossils notes that she and her research team
are planning to use this technique more frequently to uncover smaller bones
that may help “fill in a lot of those missing smaller components” of the fossil
record. The article states that these newly discovered frog fossils are more
similar to modern frogs than to the oldest known frog species, but that the
fossils are not a direct ancestor of the modern frogs. Further recovery of
amphibian fossils from this formation and from those like it is needed to
better elucidate this proposed evolutionary history.
The Independent
is not a specifically scientific news journal. It is important to keep this in
mind when digesting an article like this. Paleontological discoveries such as
these are easily-sold stories when it comes to informing the general public, so
any information obtained from the article is to be taken as a generalization,
and not necessarily factual. However, the article does mention that the fossil
findings were published in the scientific journal, Biology Letters (I
have attached the link to the abstract below). The scientific paper is not
available online to the public or through the CofC Library, but may be accessed
through ILL. Nonetheless, the abstract of the published paper confirms that
these fossils are more similar to modern frogs than to the oldest known frogs.
I found this
article extremely interesting because we do not usually think about the little
guys when we think about dinosaurs. It is so fascinating to think that tiny
frogs existed alongside these huge creatures, right under their feet! I also
really appreciate the article because it speaks to the value of studying microfossils
since they can be very telling of past environments and the creatures that
lived there. I work with small fossils myself, and it’s nice to hear that other
scientists are turning to these studies as well. You know, it’s not all about
the big ones…
News Article:
Scientific Paper Abstract:
 |
| Oldest known frog fossil, Triadobatrachus. |
 |
| Restoration of an extinct frog species (not one discussed above). |
1 comment:
Fascinating! Here is a pdf of the original article: https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/bitstream/handle/10919/87931/rsbl.2018.0922.pdf?sequence=1
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