https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8093-2905
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ABSTRACT
Here we describe life history traits in the giant cryptobranchid salamander Aviturus exsecratus from the Paleocene of Mongolia using non-destructive approach for skeletochronological analysis based on the counting of cyclical growth rings on articular surfaces of zygapophyseal processes of vertebrae (= zygapophyseal skeletochronology). We found that Aviturus exsecratus had a similar time of the attainment of sexual maturity and decreasing of juvenile growth (5–8 years) and estimated body size at maturity (50–60% of the maximum size) as modern cryptobranchids. Maximum longevity estimated for A. exsecratus is about 25 years. A. exsecratus had a developmental trajectory similar to that of modern cryptobranchids and is not characterized by extended ontogeny.
Abbreviation
PIN: Paleontological Institute; Russian Academy of Sciences; Moscow; Russia.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to the staff of the Saint Petersburg State University Research Centre for X-ray Diffraction Studies (Saint Petersburg, Russia) for their help with using the Leica 2500P microscope. The authors thank Dorota Konietzko-Meier, Alexandra Houssaye and anonymous reviewer for providing helpful comments that improved the quality of the manuscript.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Supplementary material
Supplemental data can be accessed here.
