The first frog fossil from Antarctica has been found
The first fossil of a frog found in Antarctica gives new insight into the continent’s ancient climate. Paleontologists uncovered fragments of the frog’s hip bone and skull in 40-million-year-old sediment collected from Seymour Island, near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. Scientists have previously found evidence of giant amphibians that walked Antarctica during the Triassic Period, over 200 million years ago, but no traces on the continent of amphibians like those around today (SN: 3/23/15). The shape of the newly discovered bones indicates that this frog belonged to the family of Calyptocephalellidae, or helmeted frogs, found today in South America. The fossilized frog’s modern relatives live exclusively in the warm, humid central Chilean Andes. This suggests that similar climate conditions existed on Antarctica around 40 million years ago, researchers report April 23 in Scientific Reports. A new frog fossil suggests that millions of years ago, at least part of Antarctica (shown in this illustration) looked a lot like the Chilean Andes.Pollyanna von Knorring/Swedish Museum...