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Researchers at The Zaragoza School of Advanced Studies (FES Zaragoza) at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) has discovered new artifacts. axolotl species in the province of Hidalgo.
It is called Ambystoma quetzalcoatliand the first fossil salamander species to be formally described Mexico it is the oldest known history of the species Ambystoma that has ever been recorded in this country. According to the researchers, these findings provide an important new step to understanding the origin and evolution of the diversity of modern Mexican fauna.
These fossils were found in the city of Atotonilco el Grande, in Hidalgo, an area that once had a large salt water lake that covers about 85 square kilometers. These lakes must have started when the Amajac river was temporarily blocked. The cool, low-lying environment of the region has yielded fossils of many plants, diatoms, gastropods, ostracods, beetles, and fish. Until now, however, the amphibian remains found at the site have not been studied or described.
The researchers analyzed several fossil samples collected in the early 2000s by the FES Zaragoza Paleobotany Research Group. Many of the fossils are very well preserved, with complete, well-articulated skeletons that allow for detailed structural analysis and detailed analysis of their function.
The fossils were initially identified as species Ambystomaa group that includes modern axolotls. However, a team led by researchers Jorge Herrera Flores and María Patricia Velasco de León repeated the material using modern methods, including computed tomography (CT) scanning and comparing anatomical details with biological ones, to get a better understanding.
Their research revealed that the fossils collected about three decades ago belonged to a new species, distinguished from modern axolotls by significant physical differences.
According to research, published in Palaeontologia Electronicathese fossils show different aspects of the skull and skeleton that do not exist in living organisms. Some of the most notable are the long opening at the top of the skull, the differently formed mouth, the diversity of several cranial bones, and the presence of 17 vertebrae of the trunk. This last characteristic is very important, since modern axolotls have 16 trunk vertebrae or less.
To identify these fossils, the researchers compared them to 13 species Ambystoma Many species, including those found in Mexico, such as Xochimilco axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum), and salamanders from Mexico and the United States. They relied on three-dimensional imaging and CT scans available through the international scientific community.
