10.5061/DRYAD.8M9T1
Jacisin, John J.
Texas A&M University
Hopkins, Samantha S.B.
University of Oregon
Data from: A redescription and phylogenetic analysis based on new material
of the fossil newts Taricha oligocenica Van Frank, 1955 and Taricha
lindoei Naylor, 1979 (Amphibia, Salamandridae) from the Oligocene of
Oregon.
Dryad
dataset
2017
Taricha miocenica
Caudata
Paleocene
salamander
Palaeotaricha
Taricha oligocenica
newt
Taricha
Notophthalmus
Oligocene
Taricha lindoei
Salamandridae
2017-07-31T17:38:43Z
2017-07-31T17:38:43Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1017/jpa.2017.85
55012 bytes
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CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Complete body fossils of salamanders are relatively rare, but provide
critical information on the evolutionary roots of extant urodele clades.
We describe new specimens of the fossil salamandrids Taricha oligocenica
Van Frank, 1955, and Taricha lindoei Naylor, 1979, from the Oligocene
Mehama and John Day Formations of Oregon that illustrate aspects of
skeletal morphology previously unseen in these taxa, and contribute to our
understanding of population-level variation. Morphological analysis of
these specimens supports the classification of T. oligocenica and T.
lindoei as two different species, distinct from extant Taricha.
Parsimony-based, heuristic analysis of phylogeny using 108 morphological
characters for 40 taxa yields different results from a phylogenetic
analysis that excludes four taxa known only via vertebrae. Our smaller
analysis generally agrees with molecular phylogenies of the family
Salamandridae, but with poorer resolution for molgin newts, especially
between Taricha and Notophthalmus. The analysis including all taxa
produced polytomies mostly related to complications from several fossil
taxa. The presence or absence of dorsally expanded, sculptured neural
spine tables on trunk vertebrae, an important character in past
descriptions of fossil salamandrids, appears to be either homoplastic
within the Salamandridae, or requires an expansion of characters or
character states. T. oligocenica and T. lindoei are separate species of an
at least 33 million-year-old clade, but their relationships with each
other and extant North American salamandrids remain unclear with current
levels of morphological data. Salamandrid research requires additional
morphological data, particularly for the vertebrae and ribs, to better
resolve salamandrid evolutionary history through morphological characters.
JJJ_SSBH_Supplement_new_character_descriptionsDescription of characters
used for the phylogenetic analyses in the
study.JJJ_SSBH_Supplement2_MATRIXCharacter matrix for the phylogenetic
analyses in the study.
Oregon
North America
Pacific Northwest