Nearly 237 million years ago, a spiky and toothy bottom dweller skulked the Late Triassic oceans that once covered present-day China. What sets this newly discovered giant salamander-sized prehistoric amphibian apart is not its impressive body–it’s that it lived in the ocean. The newly described Gerrothorax maritimus is the first example of a fully marine amphibian in the fossil record, according to a study published today in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.
There are currently over 8,000 species of living amphibians, and none have been known to live in fully marine (salt water) environments. Less than two percent like crab-eating frogs (Fejervarya cancrivora) and some spotted salamandars have any degree of salt tolerance. Other four-limbed animals, including birds, reptiles, and mammals, all have species who can survive without any food or water from land. There was also no evidence of a fully marine amphibian in the fossil record. Until now.
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