| Orthophyia Temporal range: Miocene | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Urodela |
| Family: | Proteidae |
| Genus: | † Orthophyia von Meyer, 1845 |
| Species: | †O. longa |
| Binomial name | |
| †Orthophyia longa von Meyer, 1845 | |
Orthophyia longa is a prehistoric proteid salamander from the Miocene [1] of Germany. The only known specimen is now lost. [2]
The Anatidae are the biological family of water birds that includes ducks, geese, and swans. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on all the world's continents except Antarctica. These birds are adapted for swimming, floating on the water surface, and in some cases diving in at least shallow water. The family contains around 174 species in 43 genera.
The bird family Sulidae comprises the gannets and boobies. Collectively called sulids, they are medium-large coastal seabirds that plunge-dive for fish and similar prey. The 10 species in this family are often considered congeneric in older sources, placing all in the genus Sula. However, Sula and Morus (gannets) can be readily distinguished by morphological, behavioral, and DNA sequence characters. Abbott's booby (Papasula) is given its own genus, as it stands apart from both in these respects. It appears to be a distinct and ancient lineage, maybe closer to the gannets than to the true boobies.
Plethodontidae, or lungless salamanders, are a family of salamanders. Most species are native to the Western Hemisphere, from British Columbia to Brazil, although a few species are found in Sardinia, Europe south of the Alps, and South Korea. In terms of number of species, they are by far the largest group of salamanders.
The family Proteidae is a group of aquatic salamanders found today in the Balkan Peninsula and North America. The range of the genus Necturus runs from southern central Canada, through the midwestern United States, east to North Carolina and south to Georgia and Mississippi. The range of the olm, the only extant member of the genus Proteus, is limited to the Western Balkans. The fossil record of the family extends into the end of the Late Cretaceous, with Paranecturus being known from the Maastrichtian of North America.
Anas is a genus of dabbling ducks. It includes the pintails, most teals, and the mallard and its close relatives. It formerly included additional species but following the publication of a molecular phylogenetic study in 2009 the genus was split into four separate genera. The genus now contains 31 living species. The name Anas is the Latin for "duck".
Aythya is a genus of diving ducks. It has twelve described species. The name Aythya comes from the Ancient Greek word αυθυια, which may have referred to a sea-dwelling duck or an auklet.
Oriental giant squirrels are cat-sized tree squirrels from the genus Ratufa in the subfamily Ratufinae. They are a distinctive element of the fauna of south and southeast Asia.
Öhningen is a municipality on the western edge of Lake Constance where it forms the border between Switzerland and the district of Konstanz in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.
Salamandrina, the spectacled salamanders, is a genus of salamander, the only of subfamily Salamandrininae in the family Salamandridae which is still alive, as one of its own relatives is extinct. The IUCN Red List follows Mattoccia et al. (2005) and Canestrelli et al. (2006) in accepting two species, both only found in Italy:
Speleomantes, or European cave salamanders, are a genus of salamander in the family Plethodontidae, or lungless salamanders. It is one of two genera in the family to inhabit the Old World, with the remaining 250 or so species being found in North, Central and South America. The genus is endemic to Italy and a few nearby areas.
Andrias scheuchzeri is an extinct species of giant salamander belonging to the genus Andrias, which also contains the closely related living Asian giant salamanders. It is known from Oligocene to Pliocene aged deposits primarily from Central Europe, but possibly as far east as Western Siberia and eastern Kazakhstan.
Chelotriton is an extinct genus of prehistoric salamanders that lived in Europe and Central Asia during the Neogene. It closely resembles the extant genera Tylototriton and Echinotriton.
Hylaeobatrachus is an extinct genus of prehistoric salamander, known from the Early Cretaceous of Europe. The type species H. croyii is known from the Sainte-Barbe Clays Formation at the Iguanodon locality of Belgium, and was described by Louis Dollo. An unnamed Hylaeobatrachus-like taxon has also been reported from Las Hoyas, Spain. Both localities are of Barremian age. Hylaeobatrachus belongs to the crown group of modern salamanders, though its exact relationship with modern salamander groups is uncertain. It was neotenic, llike some modern salamanders.
Koalliella is an extinct genus of prehistoric salamander. It is the oldest known salamandrid.
Mioproteus is an extinct genus of prehistoric salamanders from Neogene Europe. Its living relatives are the olm and the mudpuppies. The species M. caucasicus is from the Middle Miocene. The species M. wezei first appears in the fossil record during the Pliocene, then disappears during the Middle Pleistocene.
Echidnocephalus troscheli is an extinct, prehistoric halosaur. Fossils are found from Campanian strata of Westphalia, Germany. The complete and incomplete fossil specimens that have been found suggest an animal already looking very much like modern halosaurs.
Palaeogadus is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish. Ecology: nektonic carnivore
The Ville Formation is a geologic formation in Germany. It preserves fossils dating back to the Neogene period. Lignite of the Ville Formation is excavated in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Batrachosauroididae is an extinct family of prehistoric salamanders with holarctic distribution. They were paedomorphic and presumably aquatic. They are possibly the sister taxon of Proteidae, an extant family of aquatic salamanders. They are definitively known from the Late Cretaceous to Miocene of North America and Europe. Remains from the earliest Cretaceous (Berriasian) Lulworth Formation of England have tenatively been attributed to this family.
 | This article about a prehistoric salamander is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
