Yaksha, an amphibian with a ballistic tongue

[Halichoeres]

A new genus of albanerpetontid (an extinct, somewhat mysterious group of amphibians that went extinct in the Neogene) from the middle Cretaceous of Myanmar shows adaptations for a tongue-launching feeding behavior, like that of chameleons. The authors claim that the holotype was ethically sourced, before the situation at Myanmar amber mines deteriorated. Meet Yaksha perettii, named after a type of nature spirit:


A & B: Yaksha
C & D: the chameleon genus Brookesia

Paywall (but don't let that stop you): https://science.sciencemag.org/content/370/6517/687

[Loon]

I don't read technical papers (I'm a hog in elitist clothing in that way), but it is nice to see the authors honestly say where the got the fossils from.

[Halichoeres]

I spent seven years (MS + PhD) learning to read and produce technical papers, and still I find some of them impenetrable.

I found a write-up for us hogs: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/ancient-amphibian-oldest-known-animal-slingshot-tongue

[Jose S.M.]

I spent seven years (MS + PhD) learning to read and produce technical papers, and still I find some of them impenetrable.

I found a write-up for us hogs: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/ancient-amphibian-oldest-known-animal-slingshot-tongue

Kind of same here! Anyways pretty interesting discovery. It seems to have been a very successful group since it says in the article they appeared 165 mya ago and are found in few mya rocks.

[Faelrin]

What a really cool discovery. Glad it was found ethically as well.

[Halichoeres]

It seems to have been a very successful group since it says in the article they appeared 165 mya ago and are found in few mya rocks.

Yeah, we only barely missed coexisting with them! And they had scales!