Karaurus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of amphibians}} {{automatic taxobox | fossil_range = Late Jurassic {{fossilrange|161.2|150.8|ref=<ref name=fossilworks/>}} | image = Karaurus - Baoding.jpg | image_caption = Reconstructed skeletal mount at the Baoding Natural History Museum | taxon = Karaurus | authority = Ivachnenko, 1978 | type_species = †''Karaurus sharovi'' | type_species_authority = Ivachnenko, 1978 | display_parents = 2 }}{{Multiple image | direction = vertical | image1 = Karaurus sharovi skeleton 34.JPG | caption1 = Fossil specimen | image2 = Karaurus 22DB.jpg | caption2 = Life restoration | align = left }}

'''''Karaurus''''' (meaning ''head-tail'') is an extinct genus of stem-group salamander (Caudata) from the Middle to Late Jurassic (Callovian–Kimmeridgian) Karabastau Formation of Kazakhstan. It is one of the oldest salamanders known.

''Karaurus'' was large for a Jurassic salamander, about {{convert|20|cm|in}} long, and very similar anatomically to modern salamanders. ''Karaurus'' is thought to have fed using suction feeding via the enlargement of the buccal cavity on small fish and invertebrates, with the well-developed palatal dentition (teeth on the roof of the mouth) and marginal teeth mandatory to grasp prey.<ref name=":1" /> ''Karaurus'' is thought to form a clade with ''Kokartus'' from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) of Kyrgyzstan, and ''Marmorerpeton'' from the Bathonian of Britain, together forming the Karauridae, which are closely related to crown salamanders.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Jones |first1=Marc E. H. |last2=Benson |first2=Roger B. J. |last3=Skutschas |first3=Pavel |last4=Hill |first4=Lucy |last5=Panciroli |first5=Elsa |last6=Schmitt |first6=Armin D. |last7=Walsh |first7=Stig A. |last8=Evans |first8=Susan E. |date=2022-07-11 |title=Middle Jurassic fossils document an early stage in salamander evolution |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=119 |issue=30 |article-number=e2114100119 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2114100119 |doi-access=free |pmid=35858401 |pmc=9335269 |bibcode=2022PNAS..11914100J |issn=0027-8424}}</ref> Like other members of Karauridae, ''Karaurus'' is neotenic.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Skutschas |first1=Pavel |last2=Martin |first2=Thomas |date=April 2011 |title=Cranial anatomy of the stem salamander Kokartus honorarius (Amphibia: Caudata) from the Middle Jurassic of Kyrgyzstan: SKULL OF JURASSIC STEM SALAMANDER |journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society |language=en |volume=161 |issue=4 |pages=816–838 |doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.2010.00663.x|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==References== <references>

<ref name=fossilworks>{{cite web |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=37342 |title=†''Karaurus'' Ivachnenko 1978 |work=Paleobiology Database |publisher=Fossilworks |access-date=17 December 2021}}</ref>

</references> {{Lissamphibia}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q94874}}

Category:Prehistoric salamanders Category:Jurassic salamanders Category:Late Jurassic amphibians Category:Prehistoric amphibians of Asia Category:Prehistoric amphibian genera Category:Fossil taxa described in 1978