Thoraciliacus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of amphibians}} {{Speciesbox | fossil_range = Lower-Upper Cretaceous, {{Fossil range|130.0|66}} | image = | display_parents = 2 | genus = Thoraciliacus | parent_authority = Nevo, 1968<ref name="paleobio-db">{{cite web|url=http://paleobackup.nceas.ucsb.edu:8090/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=checkTaxonInfo&taxon_no=37440&is_real_user=0|title=The Paleobiology Database|access-date=2009-09-27}}</ref> | species = rostriceps | authority = Nevo, 1968 }}

'''''Thoraciliacus rostriceps''''' is an extinct species of frog from the Cretaceous period and the only species of the genus '''''Thoraciliacus''''', which is classified in the unranked clade Pipimorpha.<ref name="tree-of-life">{{cite web|url=http://tolweb.org/Anura/16963#DiscussionofPhylogeneticRelationships|title=The Tree of Life Web Project - Anura|last=Cannatella|first=David|date=2011-01-08|access-date=2009-09-27}}</ref> A recent phylogenetic analysis confirmed this conclusion, and further suggested that '''''Thoraciliacus rostriceps''''' is more closely related to Pipidae and Shelaniinae than to Palaeobatrachus.<ref name="Lemierre et al. 2023">{{cite journal |last1=Lemierre |first1=Alfred |last2=Bailon |first2=Salvador |last3=Folie |first3=Annelise |last4=Laurin |first4=Michel |title=A new pipid from the Cretaceous of Africa (In Becetèn, Niger) and early evolution of the Pipidae |journal=Journal of Systematic Palaeontology |date=January 2023 |volume=21 |issue=1 |doi=10.1080/14772019.2023.2266428 |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2023.2266428 |language=en |issn=1477-2019|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Fossils of ''T. rostriceps'' were found in Makhtesh Ramon, Negev Desert, Israel and it is believed they lived during the Barremian.<ref name="amphibian-biology-p17">{{citation |url=http://rocek.gli.cas.cz/Reprints/AmphBiol3.pdf |author=Robert L. Carroll |author2=Harold Heatwole|title=Amphibian Biology: The Evolutionary History of Amphibians |volume=4 |access-date=2009-09-25 |publisher= Surrey Beatty & Sons |page=17}}</ref> Other fossils have been found near Marydale, South Africa in an Upper Cretaceous lake.<ref name="amphibian-biology-p17"/><ref>{{citation |url=http://www.bioline.org.br/request?fs98001|title=A Late Cretaceous (Maaastrichtian) Galaxiid Fish From South Africa|last=Anderson|first=Eric|date=May 1998|publisher=Bioline International|access-date=2009-09-28|location=Grahamstown, South Africa}}</ref>

==Description== ''Thoraciliacus rostriceps'' was a small frog, {{convert|32|mm}} in length, with a large head. It had short hind limbs but its hands and feet were relatively large.<ref name="redescription-trueb">{{cite journal|last=Trueb|first=Linda|author-link=Linda Trueb|date=June 1999|title=The Early Cretaceous Pipoid Anuran, Thoraciliacus: Redescription, Revaluation, and Taxonomic Status|journal=Herpetologica|publisher=Herpetologists' League|volume=55|issue=2|pages=139–157|jstor=3893074}}</ref> Like its close relative ''Nevobatrachus gracilis'', ''T. rostriceps'' was highly aquatic evidenced by its flat skull, short axial column and long metapodials.<ref name="cordicephalus">{{cite journal |last=Trueb|first=Linda|author-link=Linda Trueb|author2=Ana María Báez |date=March 2006|title=Revision of the Early Cretaceous ''Cordicephalus'' from Israel and an assessment of its relationships among pipoid frogs |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |publisher=The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=44–59 |url=http://www.amphibiatree.org/sites/amphibiatree.org/files/TruebBaez2006_Cordicephalus.pdf |doi=10.1671/0272-4634(2006)26[44:ROTECC]2.0.CO;2}}</ref>

==See also== * List of prehistoric amphibians

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Pipoidea Category:Prehistoric amphibian genera Category:Early Cretaceous frogs Category:Fossils of Israel Category:Fossils of South Africa Category:Early Cretaceous amphibians of Asia Category:Late Cretaceous amphibians of Africa Category:Fossil taxa described in 1968