Bufonidae Gray, 1825

Ma‛ayan Lev, Dani Nadel, Mina Weinstein-Evron & Reuven Yeshurun, 2022, Squamates and amphibians from the Natufian cemetery of Raqefet Cave, Israel: taphonomy, paleoenvironments and paleoclimate, An International Journal of Paleobiology 34 (12), pp. 2394-2414 : 2400-2401

Bufonidae Gray, 1825

Bufotes viridis sensu lato green toads are rare in the assemblage and were identified by five presacral vertebrae ( Figure 5a ). The transverse processes are broken in all the vertebrae in the assemblage, but some diagnostic traits are still apparent. The vertebrae are procoelous. The cotyle is oval, elongated and is flattened dorsoventrally (semi-lunar shaped). The condyle is also oval and flattened dorsoventrally. In the dorsal view, the neural arch is flattened and wide anteroposteriorly. In the anterior view, the neural canal is wide (the width greater than the height) and oval. The prezygapophyses are dorsolaterally tilted. In posterior view the postzygapophyses are wide, dorsally flattened and laterally protruding. While there are no established osteological differences between the extant group of Bufotes viridis sensu lato (e.g. B. oblongus , B. viridis , B. boulengeri , B. balearicus and B. variabilis ) ( Blain et al. 2010), for the analysis bellow we identified the remains as Bufotes variabilis on biogeographic grounds ( Stöck et al. 2006).

The species inhabits predominantly a wide variety of Mediterranean habitats including the Mediterranean maquis (montane Mediterranean vegetation); however, it can also inhabit arid/ semi-arid habitats (supplementary Figure 2a ). This species was identified at various Epipaleolithic sites in Israel: The Kebaran site of Urkan e-Rub IIa ( Hovers et al. 1988), the Epipaleolithic layers of Sefunim Cave ( Tchernov 1984), the Natufian layers of Abu Usba Cave (mixed layer with Holocene intrusions, Stekelis and Haas 1952), Eynan (Ain Mallaha) ( Biton et al. 2021) and EWT (Lev et al. unpublished data).

Figures

Figure 2. Plan of Raqefet Cave (a) provenance of the faunal samples, with the different contexts presented in this study labelled in red (b).

Figure 5. Anura and lizard bones from Raqefet Cave. Bufotes viridis sl (a) presacral vertebra, from left to right, dorsal, anterior and posterior views; Stellagama cf. stellio (b) left maxilla, medial and lateral views; (c) right dentary, medial and lateral views; (d) trunk vertebra, dorsal, ventral, anterior, posterior and lateral views; Eumeces schneiderii (e) right dentary, medial and lateral views; (f) trunk vertebrae, dorsal, ventral, anterior, posterior and lateral views; Pseudopus apodus (g) left maxilla, medial and lateral views (h) left dentary, medial and lateral views; (i) trunk vertebra, dorsal, ventral, anterior, posterior and lateral views.