What is "marmorerpeton"

Marmorerpeton is an extinct genus of prehistoric stem- salamanders that lived in Europe during the Middle Jurassic. It is among the earliest known salamanders, and is probably older than Karaurus. It appears to have been neotenic, based on a few morphological characters and on the presence of calcified cartilage in the medulla of its humerus (see thumbnail).

The size of its osteocytic lacunae suggests that it had a fairly large genome (C-value of about 36.7 pg, with a 95% confidence interval ranging from 30.2 to 44.2 pg), though not as large as that of obligatorily neotenic extant urodeles. This suggests that it may have been facultatively neotenic.