''Electrorana'' is an extinct genus of frog that lived in what is now Myanmar during the mid-Cretaceous, around 99 million years ago. The type and only species is ''E. limoae''. The generic name is derived from the Latin () and (), while the specific epithet is given in honour of Mrs. Mo Li, who purchased and provided the specimens for study.

Description

Electrorana limoae type specimens Fig1 B

''Electrorana'' was described on the basis of four different specimens found in

Burmese amber Burmese amber, also known as Burmite or Kachin amber, is amber from the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar. The amber is dated to around 100 million years ago, during the latest Albian to earliest Cenomanian ages of the mid-Cretaceous period. Th ...

, which show varying states of completeness. These specimens have a body length of though it has been suggested that they are likely to have been juveniles.

Taxonomy

Phylogenetic analysis suggests that ''Electrorana'' is a relatively basal frog that lies outside of

Neobatrachia The Neobatrachia (Neo-Latin ''neo-'' ("new") + ''batrachia'' ("frogs")) are a suborder of the Frog, Anura, the order (biology), order of frogs and toads. This suborder is the most advanced and apomorphic of the three anuran suborders alive toda ...

, with unclear relationships to living basal frog clades. A close relationship with the extinct frog '' Aerugoamnis'' from the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

of North America has been found in some phylogenies.

Ecology

''Electrorana'' is thought to have lived in a

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are dense and warm rainforests with high rainfall typically found between 10° north and south of the Equator. They are a subset of the tropical forest biome that occurs roughly within the 28° latitudes (in the torrid zo ...

, making it one of the oldest known frogs to have inhabited such an environment.

References

Late Cretaceous animals of Asia Fossil taxa described in 2018 Cretaceous frogs Burmese amber Fossils of Myanmar {{paleo-anura-stub