Albanerpeton
Encyclopedia
Albanerpeton is an extinct genus
of salamander
-like lissamphibian found in North America
and Europe
. Members of the genus have a robust head and neck which likely allowed them to actively burrow and they lived in a wide range of environments. This genus was the last of its clade and survived until the late Pliocene
in southern Europe
and was likely killed off when the region developed its present Mediterranean-type vegetation.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of salamander
Salamander
Salamander is a common name of approximately 500 species of amphibians. They are typically characterized by a superficially lizard-like appearance, with their slender bodies, short noses, and long tails. All known fossils and extinct species fall under the order Caudata, while sometimes the extant...
-like lissamphibian found in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Members of the genus have a robust head and neck which likely allowed them to actively burrow and they lived in a wide range of environments. This genus was the last of its clade and survived until the late Pliocene
Pliocene
The Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...
in southern Europe
Southern Europe
The term Southern Europe, at its most general definition, is used to mean "all countries in the south of Europe". However, the concept, at different times, has had different meanings, providing additional political, linguistic and cultural context to the definition in addition to the typical...
and was likely killed off when the region developed its present Mediterranean-type vegetation.
Sources
- Delfino, M. and Sala, B. 2007. Late Pliocene Albanerpetontidae (Lissamphibia) from Italy. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27(3):716–719
- Fossil Salamanders of North America (Life of the Past) by J. Alan Holman