Scientists have discovered the oldest known fossil of a giant wriggling tadpole more than 160 million years ago.
The new fossil, found in Argentina, surpasses the previous ancient record by about 20 million years.
Parts of the tadpole's skull and spine are printed on a sandstone slab, along with impressions of its eyes and nerves.
“It is not only the oldest known tadpole, but also the best preserved,” said study author Mariana Chuliver, a biologist at the Maimónides University of Buenos Aires.
Researchers know that frogs have been jumping for 217 million years. But it's still unclear exactly how and when they evolved to start out as tadpoles.
This new discovery adds some clarity to that timeline. At approximately 16 cm (6 in) long, the tadpole is a younger version of an extinct giant frog.
“It's starting to help reduce the time frame in which a frog becomes a frog,” said Ben Kligman, a paleontologist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Pure History who was not involved in the research.
The results were published Wednesday in the journal Nature.
The fossil is strikingly similar to modern-day tadpoles, and even contains remains of a gill-frame system that modern-day tadpoles use to separate food particles from water.
That means amphibians' survival strategy has been tried and true for millions of years, helping them survive several mass extinctions, Kligman said.
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