Prosalirus
{{Short description|Extinct genus of amphibians}}
{{automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = Early Jurassic {Sinemurian–Toarcian), {{Fossil range|195.2|182.7|ref=}}
| image = Prosalirus_BW.jpg
| image_caption = Prosalirus bitis
| taxon = Prosalirus
| authority = Shubin & Jenkins, 1995
| type_species = Prosalirus bitis
| type_species_authority = Shubin & Jenkins, 1995
}}
Prosalirus is an extinct genus of primitive frog known from the Early Jurassic of North America. It contains a single species, P. bitis, known from the Kayenta Formation of Arizona.Geographica; "Jurassic Frog hops into the record book", National Geographic; August 1996, pg.5.
Description
The fossils of P. bitis were discovered in 1981 by Farish Jenkins, who noted their distinctive hind legs for jumping. Only three skeletons were discovered.{{cite book |author=Douglas Palmer |title=Prehistoric Life: The Definitive Visual History of Life on Earth |publisher=DK Publishing |year=2009 |isbn=9780756655730 |edition=first American |location=New York City |page=247 |display-authors=etal}} Jenkins would describe the species in 1995 alongside Neil Shubin. The genus name derives from prosalire, Latin for "leap forward", while bitis derives from the Navajo word for "high above it".{{Cite news |date=2012-11-17 |title=Farish Jenkins {{!}} The Economist |newspaper=The Economist |url=http://www.economist.com/news/obituary/21566602-farish-jenkins-paleontologist-and-polymath-died-november-11th-aged-72-farish-jenkins |access-date=2024-10-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121117075612/http://www.economist.com/news/obituary/21566602-farish-jenkins-paleontologist-and-polymath-died-november-11th-aged-72-farish-jenkins |archive-date=2012-11-17 }}
The skeleton has primitive features, but has mostly lost the salamander-like traits of its ancestors. It has a skeleton designed to absorb the force of jumping with its hind legs and tail. It also has long hip bones, long hind leg bones, and long ankle bones, all similar to modern frogs, and is as of 2009 the earliest true frog. It is thought to have lived during the Early Jurassic epoch 190 million years ago, well before the first known modern frog, Callobatrachus.{{cite journal | journal = Nature | volume = 377 | pages = 49–52 | date = 7 September 1995 | doi = 10.1038/377049a0 | title = An Early Jurassic jumping frog | author = Neil H. Shubin and Farish A. Jenkins, Jr | issue=6544| bibcode = 1995Natur.377...49S | s2cid = 4308225 }}
Habitat
The Prosalirus is believed to have lived in brackish, freshwater, and terrestrial environments.{{cite web | title=Prosalirus | date = 7 May 2020 | location=Hudson | url=https://www.mindat.org/taxon-P156389.html}}
References
{{Portal|Paleontology}}
{{Reflist|25em}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q2117594}}
Category:Early Jurassic amphibians
Category:Jurassic amphibians of North America
Category:Early Jurassic animals of North America
Category:Paleontology in Arizona
Category:Fossil taxa described in 1995