Researchers at the La Brea Tar Pits have identified a previously unknown extinct amphibian that lived in Ice Age Los Angeles, according to ScienceDaily. The new spadefoot toad has been named Spea labreae and is the first new extinct amphibian species discovered from the famous fossil site.
The find is considered rare. According to the report, only one other extinct Pleistocene amphibian has been identified in North America, a tree frog from Florida. While the animal was small compared with the mammoths and saber-toothed cats tied to La Brea, scientists say its fossils may offer clues about climate and environmental changes near the end of the last ice age.
The species is described in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. The discovery also underscores how new information continues to emerge from the Samuel Oschin Global Center for Ice Age Research at La Brea Tar Pits during the museum’s ongoing transformation.
Lead author Dr. Alberto Cruz said he was not trying to find a new species when he began studying the site’s understudied reptile and amphibian collections. After comparing the fossils with modern spadefoot toads and with specimens from other collections, he concluded the bones represented something distinct.
Researchers also reported the first known record of the Mexican burrowing toad, Rhinophrynus, in the southwestern United States. The toads now live far from Los Angeles, with the nearest living populations nearly 2,500 kilometers away in southern Mexico, highlighting how much the region’s environment and animal ranges have changed over time.
