# Karaurus

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karaurus
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{{Short description|Extinct genus of amphibians}}
{{automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = [Late Jurassic](/source/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](/source/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](/source/Life_restoration)
| align             = left
}}

'''''Karaurus''''' (meaning ''head-tail'') is an extinct genus of [stem-group](/source/stem-group) [salamander](/source/salamander) ([Caudata](/source/Caudata)) from the Middle to Late Jurassic ([Callovian](/source/Callovian)–[Kimmeridgian](/source/Kimmeridgian)) [Karabastau Formation](/source/Karabastau_Formation) of [Kazakhstan](/source/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](/source/suction_feeding) via the enlargement of the [buccal cavity](/source/buccal_cavity) on small fish and invertebrates, with the well-developed [palatal dentition](/source/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](/source/Kokartus)'' from the Middle Jurassic ([Bathonian](/source/Bathonian)) of Kyrgyzstan, and ''[Marmorerpeton](/source/Marmorerpeton)'' from the Bathonian of Britain, together forming the [Karauridae](/source/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](/source/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

{{paleo-salamander-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Karaurus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karaurus) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karaurus?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.