The scratch-digging lifestyle of the Permian “ microsaur ” Batropetes Carroll & Gaskill, 1971 as a model for the exaptative origin of jumping locomotion in frogs

This dataset contains the digitized treatments in Plazi based on the original journal article Jansen, Maren, Marjanović, David (2022): The scratch-digging lifestyle of the Permian “ microsaur ” Batropetes Carroll & Gaskill, 1971 as a model for the exaptative origin of jumping locomotion in frogs. Comptes Rendus Palevol 21 (23): 463-488, DOI: 10.5852/cr-palevol2022v21a23, URL: doi.org/10.5852/cr-palevol2022v21a23 ABSTRACT Recent studies have shown that the Triassic stem-frog Triadobatrachus Kuhn, 1962 lacked the ability to jump, but nonetheless had the forelimb strength to withstand the impact of landing from a jump.

We propose a hypothesis to resolve this pseudoparadox: the strengthened forelimbs are former adaptations to forelimb-based digging that later made jumping possible by exaptation. Micro-CT data from a skeleton of Batropetes palatinus Glienke, 2015 reveal thin cortical bone, confirming Batropetes Carroll & Gaskill, 1971 as terrestrial. Combining adaptations to walking and digging, confirmed by statistical analyses, Batropetes is thought to have searched for food in leaf litter or topsoil.