''Mioproteus'' is an extinct

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of prehistoric

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 t ...

s from

Neogene The Neogene ( ,) is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period million years ago. It is the second period of th ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. Its living relatives are the

olm The olm () or proteus (''Proteus anguinus'') is an aquatic salamander which is the only species in the genus ''Proteus'' of the family Proteidae and the only exclusively cave-dwelling chordate species found in Europe; the family's other extant g ...

and the

mudpuppies ''Necturus'' is a genus of aquatic salamanders in the family Proteidae. Species of the genus are native to the eastern United States and Canada. They are commonly known as waterdogs and mudpuppies. The common mudpuppy ''(N. maculosus)'' is pr ...

. The species ''M. caucasicus'' is from the Middle Miocene. The species ''M. wezei'' first appears in the fossil record during the Pliocene, then disappears during the Middle Pleistocene.A Review of the fossil Caudata of Europe
/ref>

References

Quaternary amphibians of Europe Pliocene amphibians Miocene amphibians Miocene genus first appearances Pleistocene genus extinctions Pleistocene amphibians Neogene amphibians of Europe Cenozoic salamanders Fossil taxa described in 1978 Proteidae Prehistoric amphibian genera {{paleo-salamander-stub

See also

References