Ramonellus longispinus, an Early Cretaceous Salamander from Israel

Ramonellus longispinus n. gen., n. sp., occurs in the early Cretaceous of Makhtesh Ramon, Israel, associated with fossil frogs and plants in lake deposits. Sixteen incomplete, articulated specimens are known, and include vertebral columns, skulls and anterior limbs. Vertebrae have distinctive high, rounded neural spines, mandibles have a relatively long post-dentary segment and a retroarticular process unique among salamanders in its length. Ramonellus displays a mosaic of primitive and specialized characters, is aquatic and probably paedomorphic. It is probably a member of the Prosirenidae, a recently described family of salamanders known from the Late Mesozoic of Europe and North America.