Pedicellate Teeth in Archaic Salamanders (Lissamphibia, Caudata)

The presence of pedicellate (subpedicellate) teeth with two calcification centers and a weakly mineralized dividing zone is described for archaic stem salamanders (Middle Jurassic-Early Cretaceous representatives of Karauridae). The presence of subpedicellate teeth, typical of the late larval stage of modern salamanders, confirms the neotenic nature of stem salamanders. The presence of pedicellate teeth in stem salamanders and stem caecilians confirms the hypothesis of pedicellarity as a synapomorphy of modern amphibian groups and, accordingly, the monophyly of Lissamphibia.