Evolution of Locomotor Abilities in Frogs: Evidence from the Mesozoic-Paleogene Fossil Record

Abstract

Limbs appear to have played a key role in the adaptive radiation of anurans (frogs), showing morphologies associated with diverse locomotor abilities. Particularly, it has been shown that these abilities correlate with variations in limb proportions, which evolved convergentlyacross the anuran tree. It has been proposed that early salientians (stem-group anurans) were good jumpers and that the origin of the bizarre anuran Bauplan might have been related to jumping adaptations. However, it has recently been shown that distinct postcranial morphologies shared by earliest salientians and frogs would not have originally been linked to a saltatory locomotion. Herein, we explore the evolution of limb proportions and locomotor abilities in Salientia over most of their history...