Kokartus

Kokartus
Temporal range: Middle Jurassic, Bathonian–Callovian
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Family: †Karauridae
Genus: †Kokartus
Nessov, 1988
Species:
†K. honorarius
Binomial name
†Kokartus honorarius
Nessov, 1988

Kokartus is an extinct genus of prehistoric stem-group salamander (Caudata) from the Middle Jurassic Balabansai Formation of Kyrgyzstan.[1]

The absence of clear lines of arrested growth and annuli in long bones suggests that the animals lived in an environment with stable local conditions.[2] Like other members of Karauridae, it is thought to have been neotenic.[3] Kokartus is thought to have fed using suction feeding via the enlargement of the buccal cavity on small fish and invertebrates, with the well developed palatal dentition (teeth on the roof of the mouth) and marginal teeth helping to grasp prey.[4]

  1. ^ Averianov, Alexander O.; Martin, Thomas; Skutschas, P. P.; Rezvyi, A. S.; Bakirov, A. A. (2008). "Amphibians from the Middle Jurassic Balabansai Svita in the Fergana Depression, Kyrgyzstan (Central Asia)". Palaeontology. 51 (2): 471–485. Bibcode:2008Palgy..51..471A. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2007.00748.x.
  2. ^ Skutschas, Pavel; Stein, Koen (12 February 2015). "Long bone histology of the stem salamanderKokartus honorarius(Amphibia: Caudata) from the Middle Jurassic of Kyrgyzstan". Journal of Anatomy. 226 (4): 334–347. doi:10.1111/joa.12281. PMC 4386933. PMID 25682890.
  3. ^ Jones, Marc E. H.; Benson, Roger B. J.; Skutschas, Pavel; Hill, Lucy; Panciroli, Elsa; Schmitt, Armin D.; Walsh, Stig A.; Evans, Susan E. (2022-07-11). "Middle Jurassic fossils document an early stage in salamander evolution". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 119 (30): e2114100119. Bibcode:2022PNAS..11914100J. doi:10.1073/pnas.2114100119. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 9335269. PMID 35858401. S2CID 250472286.
  4. ^ Skutschas, Pavel; Martin, Thomas (April 2011). "Cranial anatomy of the stem salamander Kokartus honorarius (Amphibia: Caudata) from the Middle Jurassic of Kyrgyzstan: SKULL OF JURASSIC STEM SALAMANDER". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 161 (4): 816–838. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2010.00663.x.