Eocaecilia

Eocaecilia is an extinct genus of gymnophionan amphibian from the early Jurassic Kayenta Formation of Arizona, United States. One species is described, Eocaecilia micropodia.

Life restoration

Eocaecilia
Temporal range: Early Jurassic, 199.6–175.6 Ma
3D scan of the holotype skull
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Gymnophiona
Genus: †Eocaecilia
Jenkins & Walsh, 1993
Species:
†E. micropodia
Binomial name
†Eocaecilia micropodia
Jenkins & Walsh, 1993

Eocaecilia shared some characteristics with salamanders and the now extinct microsaur amphibians. It was of small size, about 15 cm in length. Unlike modern caecilians, which are legless, Eocaecilia possessed small legs, and while modern caecilians have poorly developed eyes and spend a lot of time under ground, Eocaecilia's eyes were somewhat better developed. Although the precise ancestry of Eocaecilia is debated (and other caecilians by extension), it likely resided among the ancestral lepospondyl[1][2][3] or temnospondyl[4][5] amphibians of the Paleozoic and Mesozoic.

References
  1. Jenkins, F.A. & Walsh, D.M. (1993) An Early Jurassic caecilian with limbs. Nature 365: 246-250.
  2. Huttenlocker, A. K.; Pardo, J. D.; Small, B. J.; Anderson, J. S. (2013). "Cranial morphology of recumbirostrans (Lepospondyli) from the Permian of Kansas and Nebraska, and early morphological evolution inferred by micro-computed tomography". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 33 (3): 540. doi:10.1080/02724634.2013.728998
  3. Anderson, J. S.; Reisz, R. R.; Scott, D.; Fröbisch, N. B.; Sumida, S. S. (2008). "A stem batrachian from the Early Permian of Texas and the origin of frogs and salamanders". Nature 453 (7194): 515–518. doi:10.1038/nature06865
  4. Jenkins, F.A. et al. (2007) Anatomy of Eocaecilia micropodia, A Limbed Caecilian of the Early Jurassic. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 158(6):285-365.
  5. Maddin H.C., Jenkins F.A. Jr. & Anderson J.S. (2012) The Braincase of Eocaecilia micropodia (Lissamphibia, Gymnophiona) and the Origin of Caecilians. PLoS ONE 7(12):e50743.
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