Early Cretaceous neobatrachian frog (Anura) from Brazil sheds light on the origin of modern anurans

The fossil record of anurans in South America is scarse, especially for Mesozoic-aged beds. The aim of the present paper is to describe a new neobatrachian anuran coming from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian) Crato Formation from Brazil. The specimen, represented by a nearly complete skeleton is reminiscent to the extant clade Hyloidea. In contrast with recent claims, this finding, together with previously known fossils from South America indicates that modern frog clades were present and well-diversified by 40 million years before the K/T boundary. In the same sense, the analysis of Mesozoic and Paleogene anuran record in South America contradicts the hypothesis of massive anuran extinction at the K/T boundary.Fil: Agnolin, Federico. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; Argentina. Fundación de Historia Natural Félix de Azara; ArgentinaFil: de Souza Carvalho, Ismar. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Aranciaga Rolando, Alexis Mauro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; Argentina. Fundación de Historia Natural Félix de Azara; ArgentinaFil: Novas, Fernando Emilio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Xavier Neto, José. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Andrade, José Artur Ferreira Gomes de. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Idalécio Freitas, Francisco. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; Brasi