{"id":4851,"date":"2026-10-24T11:35:39","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T09:35:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.palaeonavix.org\/portfolio\/new-mini-ursasaur-2\/"},"modified":"2026-10-31T00:10:55","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T23:10:55","slug":"new-mini-ursasaur","status":"publish","type":"avada_portfolio","link":"https:\/\/www.palaeonavix.org\/en\/portfolio\/new-mini-ursasaur\/","title":{"rendered":"New tiny &#8220;Ursaurier&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>digital painting, 2024<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>On the evolutionary path toward modern amphibians\u2014such as salamanders and frogs\u2014the temnospondyl amphibians became quite small. This is especially true of this relatively recent discovery from Rhineland-Palatinate, which researchers initially considered might represent a separate genus. In fact, this tiny creature can be classified as a new species within an already known genus: <em>Melanerpeton kuselense<\/em> grew to only about 6 cm in length. This places it in the same size class as freshwater jellyfish, meaning it occupies a position in the food chain just above plankton and small tubeworms.<\/p>\n<p>Its phylogenetic classification is interesting in that it shows no close relationship to other known branchiosaurids from the Saar-Nahe Basin. Although the fauna of aquatic tetrapods exhibits many characteristics typical of this region, <em>Melanerpeton kuselense<\/em> provides further evidence of immigration.<\/p>\n<p>Definitely a nice, not-too-dramatic picture. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.palaeonavix.org\/en\/portfolio\/sketchbook-remigiusberg-biota\/\">The large fish in the background<\/a> would certainly be a potential predator for small amphibians. First and foremost, however, this element of the image serves to evoke a sense of prehistoric times. After all, this lake\u2014whether from the Carboniferous or Permian period (the dating is borderline)\u2014could have looked like this during many geological eras.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Schoch, R.S., Werneburg, R., &amp; Voigt, S. (2026): A new diminutive temnospondyl from the Carboniferous-Permian boundary in Germany. Journal of Paleontology, 100 (2): 257\u2013267. <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1017\/jpa.2026.10246\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1017\/jpa.2026.10246<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/static.cambridge.org\/covers\/JPA_0_0_0\/journal_of%20paleontology.jpg?send-full-size-image=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">COVER ILLUSTRATION for the Journal of Paleontology, 100 (2)<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Small branchiosaurid from Rhineland-Palatinate, Lake Remigiusberg<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4852,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"portfolio_category":[158],"portfolio_skills":[],"portfolio_tags":[],"class_list":["post-4851","avada_portfolio","type-avada_portfolio","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","portfolio_category-palaeo-illustration"],"acf":{"pn_news":true,"pn_jahr":"","pn_taxon":"","pn_auftraggeber":"","pn_ausstellung":"","pn_masse":"","pn_quelle_url":"","pn_lizenz":"\u00a9 Palaeonavix \u00b7 Frederik Spindler","pn_mitwirkende":"","pn_verwandte":"","pn_links":null,"pn_publikationen":null,"pn_alt_url":"","pn_highlight":true,"pn_produkte":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - 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