Taxonomic studies on fossil anurans and lizards from the Early Cretaceous Sasayama Group, Hyogo, Japan.

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26870925
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Biodiversity/Systematics; Stratigraphy/Paleontology
• Research Institution: The Museum of Nature and Human Activities, Hyogo
• Principal Investigator: Ikeda Tadahiro 兵庫県立人と自然の博物館, その他部局等, 研究員 (50508455)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 下部白亜系 / 篠山層群 / トカゲ / カエル / 新属・新種

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Numerous anuran and lizard fossils have been found from the Lower Cretaceous Sasayama Group together with dinosaurs. In present study, we investigated the taxonomic assignments for two nearly complete specimens of fossil anurans and twelve cranial specimens of fossil lizards, on the basis of comparative morphological studies between these and Mesozoic or archaic taxa. As the results, two specimens of anurans were described as novel, two distinct taxa, and the lizard specimens were identified as two types of genus Pachygenys including a new taxon, and six types of sincomorphans. Although the discovery of genus Pachygenys from the Sasayama Group represents the faunal correlation of lizards between Japan and eastern Eurasia, the two anurans and other lizard fossils from the Sasayama Group did not show any evidence of their particularly close affinity to anurans and lizards from the Lower Cretaceous of the eastern Eurasia.

Free Research Field

古脊椎動物学