''Karaurus'' (meaning ''head-tail'') is an extinct genus of stem-group

salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All ten ...

( Caudata) from the Middle to Late Jurassic ( Callovian– Kimmeridgian) Karabastau Formation of

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental coun ...

. It is one of the oldest salamanders known. ''Karaurus'' was large for a Jurassic salamander, about long, and very similar anatomically to modern salamanders. ''Karaurus'' is thought to have fed using suction feeding via the enlargement of the buccal cavity on small fish and invertebrates, with the well developed palatal dentition (teeth on the roof of the mouth) and marginal teeth helping to grasp prey. ''Karaurus'' is thought to form a clade with '' Kokartus'' from the Middle Jurassic ( Bathonian) of Kyrgyzstan, and '' Marmorerpeton'' from the Bathonian of Britain, together forming the Karauridae, which are closely related to crown salamanders. Like other members of Karauridae, ''Karaurus'' is neotenic.

References

Prehistoric salamanders Late Jurassic amphibians Prehistoric amphibians of Asia Prehistoric amphibian genera Fossil taxa described in 1978 {{paleo-salamander-stub