A new Early Cretaceous salamander (Regalerpeton weichangensis gen. et sp nov.) from the Huajiying Formation of northeastern China

Recent discoveries of well-preserved Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous salamander fossils from China are helping to resolve highly controversial aspects of caudate phylogeny. Here we report on a new Early Cretaceous salamander, Regalerpeton weichangensis gen. et sp. nov., from the Huajiying Formation in Hebei Province, China. This specimen is characterized by long, arched vomerine tooth rows running parallel to the maxillary arcade; a long and tapered anterior ramus of the pterygoid that curves anteromedially; an ossified hyobranchium with one pair of hypobranchials and two pairs of cera to branchials; and scapulocoracoids with greatly expanded, approximately rectangular coracoid components, Phylogenic analysis places Regalerpeton as the sister group to a Cryptobranchidae clade including Chunerpeton, with Jeholotriton and Pangerpeton as successive sister taxa. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.