Palaeobatrachus
Scientific Classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Palaeobatrachidae
Genus: Palaeobatrachus
Type Species: Palaeobatrachus diluvianus meaning "Ancient Frog" in Greek
Described by Georg August Goldfuss, 1831.
Species:
-Palaeobatrachus diluvianus, (Goldfuss, 1831) (type)
-Palaeobatrachus gigas, Meyer, 1859
-Palaeobatrachus occidentalis, Estes and Sanchíz, 1982
-Palaeobatrachus eurydices, Villa et al. 2016
-Palaeobatrachus robustus, Hossini & Rage, 2000
Current Park Population: (8; all adults; 4 male, 4 female)
Park Diet: frozen blood worms, feeder fish like guppies or minnows, earthworms, Aqueon Pro Carnivore Formula, waxworms, brine shrimp, and freshwater snails.
Natural Diet: Insects, crustaceans, fish, other small aquatic animals, mollusks, and algae during the Tadpole stage.
Lifespan: 15 years
Habitat: Wetlands, Swamps, rivers, streams, and ponds.
Native Ecosystem: North America, Laramadia, possibly Hell Creek Formation, Europe, Germany and the Netherlands, and Russia, Asia. Late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian possibly to Eocene–Middle Pleistocene.
Breeding Season: March-September
Eggs Laid: 500 – 2,000 eggs
Hatching Time: One Week
Danger Level: 1 out of 10.
Summary: There were Amphibians during the time of the Dinosaurs. Among them frogs are well-known and some primitive frogs have been found in the Hell Creek. Palaeobatrachus is an example of such which are relatives of modern clawed frogs and burrowing toads.
Description: Adults are grayish brown with black spots and stripes that run down their backs, and a white underbelly.
Tadpoles are grayish brown and dark brown tails.
Palaeobatrachus had a relatively broad skull in the shape of a Gothic arch. Its body was relatively large, ranging from 8 to 10 centimeters (3.1 to 3.9 in) in length, and the female was usually larger than the male (sexual dimorphism).
Taxonomy: Palaeobatrachus was the first fossil frog to be described, with the first species being P. diluvianus named by Goldfuss in 1831, originally as Rana diluviana from remains found in uppermost Oligocene strata near Bonn in Germany. It was later recognized as distinct and placed in the new separate genus Palaeobatrachus by Tschudi in 1839.
The Eocene genus Albionbatrachus was considered a synonym of Palaeobatrachus by Wuttke et al. (2012), but Roček et al. (2015) retained it as a separate taxon.
The nominal species Palaeobatrachus occidentalis was described from material found in the Late Cretaceous-Early Paleocene of western North America, but Roček (2013) questioned its generic attribution.
Habitat and Paleoecology: Its skeletal remains are plentiful in freshwater sediments in western Bohemia, in Geiseltal (west Germany), and east Germany. They are sometimes preserved very well indeed, with impressions of internal organs, muscles, nerves, blood vessels, and epidermis, and with traces of coloring. Tadpoles and eggs have also been found.
These frogs lived permanently in the water. Their bag-shaped lungs, on the dorsal side of their body, enabled them to remain submerged for long periods. They inhabited through-drainage basins or swamps where brown coal deposits were formed. Like the African clawed toad, they probably lived on small crustaceans, insect larvae, and small fish and provided sustenance for many other animals.
Interactions with other species: They are seldom seen by dinosaurs as they are tiny and burrow underground, but the symphony of their calls can be heard across the floodplain, They could be prey to Quetzalcoatlus, Ornithomimus, Pachycephalosaurus, Thescelosaurus, Anzu, Pectindon, Didelphodon, Acheroraptor, Borealosuchus, Thoracosaurus, and Champsosaurus. These predators find them either in the water or attracted to the calls which they dig the frogs out.
Extinction: The climatic change at the beginning of the Pliocene was a real catastrophe for Palaeobatrachus, which required warmth, and, being specialized, was unable to adapt itself to the altered conditions. Water-rich and warm environments that existed in the area of the Netherlands, acting as a refugium for Palaeobatrachus, made it possible for one species (P. eurydices) to survive in western Europe as recently as the early Pleistocene. In addition, a species persisted in southern Russia until the mid-Pleistocene.
Danger Tip: They're not dangerous, but it's best to wash your hands after touching them as they could carry parasites and diseases.
Lana Loud sketched herself with the Palaeobatrachus with her pet frog Hops.
Significant Events: The Team encounters a group of Palaeobatrachus alongside floats of Borealosuchus, Thoracosaurus, and Champsosaurus on the third day of the First mission, in the slow-moving river alongside other reptiles. Lana Loud caught the frogs carefully draping a net over where the eight palaeobatrachus were resting and hauled them into the portal to the park. They now reside in the Hell Creek Forest Building.
Hell Creek Forest Building Terrariums: The frogs live in one of three terrarium tanks for the three Hell Creek Amphibians. The Palaeobatrachus tank is mostly water due to their aquatic lifestyle, filled with aquatic plants, and a shoreline of mud and silt on the side and on the bottom to provide burrowing behavior.
Conclusion: Palaeobatrachus gives an example of how amphibians were successful during the Mesozoic and how we should also observe the little guys as much as the big guys. These frogs are a ribbiting member of Prehistoric Park.
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