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MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for Soybull

The first frog fossil from Antarctica has been found:

Scientists have previously found evidence of giant amphibians[*] that walked Antarctica during the Triassic Period, over 200 million years ago, but no traces on the continent of amphibians like those around today (SN: 3/23/15). The shape of the newly discovered bones indicates that this frog belonged to the family of Calyptocephalellidae, or helmeted frogs, found today in South America.

The fossilized frog's modern relatives live exclusively in the warm, humid central Chilean Andes. This suggests that similar climate conditions existed on Antarctica around 40 million years ago, researchers report April 23 in Scientific Reports.

That offers a clue about how fast Antarctica switched from balmy to bitter cold (SN: 4/1/20). Antarctica quickly froze over after splitting from Australia and South America, which were once all part of the supercontinent Gondwana (SN: 10/10/19).

[*] Behind a paywall.

Journal Reference:
T. Mörs, M. Reguero and D. Vasilyan. First fossil frog from Antarctica: implications for Eocene high latitude climate conditions and Gondwanan cosmopolitanism of Australobatrachia. Scientific Reports. Published online April 23, 2020. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-61973-5.

The jokes almost write themselves. Who will be first to leap at the opportunity?

Original Submission

1. "MrPlow" - https://soylentnews.org/~MrPlow/
2. "The first frog fossil from Antarctica has been found" - https://www.sciencenews.org/article/first-frog-fossil-antarctica-found-ancient-climate
3. "giant amphibians[*]" - https://www.sciencenews.org/article/fossil-monstrous-fish-eating-amphibian-unearthed
4. "switched from balmy to bitter cold" - https://www.sciencenews.org/article/rainforest-antarctica-south-pole-roughly-90-million-years-ago
5. "the supercontinent Gondwana" - https://www.sciencenews.org/article/1969-antarctic-fossil-pointed-gondwanaland-existence
6. "First fossil frog from Antarctica: implications for Eocene high latitude climate conditions and Gondwanan cosmopolitanism of Australobatrachia" - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-61973-5
7. "10.1038/s41598-020-61973-5" - https://doi.org/doi:10.1038/s41598-020-61973-5
8. "Original Submission" - https://soylentnews.org/submit.pl?op=viewsub&subid=40589

printed from SoylentNews, First Antarctic Frog Fossil Found on 2024-04-28 21:23:26