Sanyanlichan

Taxobox
name = "Sanyanlichan"
fossil_range = Early Cretaceous


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regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Amphibia
ordo = Anura
familia =
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genus_authority =

"Sanyanlichan" is the name given to a fossil that represents the earliest known "modern" frog. The fossil dates to approximately 125 million years ago (Early Cretaceous), and was found in the fossil beds of Sihetun, in the western part of Liaoning province, China. It possessed most "frog characteristics", being the earliest known example of these, but also had nine presacral vertebrae (one more than modern frogs). It may have been an ancestor of the Discoglossidae family of frogs, which includes the famous fire bellied toad fact|date=July 2008.

Although "sanyanlichan" is the earliest known example of a fully modern frog, a Triassic genus, "Triadobatrachus", represents the earliest known "frog". However, this genus still retained many salamander traits, thus is not a "fully modern frog".

External links

* [http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200111/s420441.htm "Chinese frog discovery sheds light on amphibians' evolution"] from ABC News Online