James D. Gardner, Andrea Villa, Simone Colombero, Márton Venczel, Massimo Delfino
Geodiversitas 43 (14), 391-404, (1 July 2021) https://doi.org/10.5252/geodiversitas2021v43a14
KEYWORDS: Albanerpetontidae, Albanerpeton, Italy, Moncucco Torinese
Piedmont Basin, Miocene, Messinian
Albanerpetontids are an extinct clade of superficially salamander-like lissamphibians that range from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian)-Early Pleistocene and have a primarily Laurasian distribution. The best Cenozoic record for the clade is in Europe, where two species in the type genus AlbanerpetonEstes & Hoffstetter, 1976 occur in over 40 localities of early Oligocene-Early Pleistocene age in Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, and Serbia. From the post-evaporitic Messinian (5.41-5.33 Ma or latest Miocene) succession at Moncucco Torinese, in the Piedmont Basin, northwestern Italy, here we describe isolated albanerpetontid jaws and vertebrae referable to A. pannonicumVenczel & Gardner, 2005. This Italian occurrence extends the temporal record for A. pannonicum from the Early Pleistocene and Pliocene back into the latest Miocene and it narrows the temporal gap between that species and its European congener, A. inexpectatumEstes & Hoffstetter, 1976 (early Oligocene-late Miocene).
