Karaurus

Karaurus (meaning head-tail) is an extinct genus of stem-group salamander (Caudata) from the Middle to Late Jurassic (Callovian–Kimmeridgian) Karabastau Formation of Kazakhstan. It is one of the oldest salamanders known.

Life restoration

Karaurus Temporal range: Late Jurassic 161.2–150.8 Ma[1] PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Fossil skeleton
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Clade:	Caudata
Family:	†Karauridae
Genus:	†Karaurus Ivachnenko, 1978
Type species
†Karaurus sharovi Ivachnenko, 1978

Karaurus was large for a Jurassic salamander, about 20 centimetres (7.9 in) long, and very similar anatomically to modern salamanders. Karaurus is thought to have fed using suction feeding via the enlargement of the buccal cavity on small fish and invertebrates, with the well-developed palatal dentition (teeth on the roof of the mouth) and marginal teeth mandatory to grasp prey.^[2] Karaurus is thought to form a clade with Kokartus from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) of Kyrgyzstan, and Marmorerpeton from the Bathonian of Britain, together forming the Karauridae, which are closely related to crown salamanders.^[3] Like other members of Karauridae, Karaurus is neotenic.^[2]