<i>Palaeobatrachus eurydices</i>, sp. nov. (Amphibia, Anura), the last western European palaeobatrachid

Disarticulated remains of palaeobatrachids coming from the early Pleistocene (Gelasian) of Tegelen (The Netherlands) are here described and referred to the new species <i>Palaeobatrachus eurydices</i>. The new species has been included in the first comprehensive phylogenetic analysis considering all known species of the genus <i>Palaeobatrachus</i> and was found to be the sister taxon of the Oligocene/Miocene <i>P. robustus. Palaeobatrachus eurydices</i> + <i>P. robustus</i> form a clade with <i>P. langhae</i>, and this latter clade is sister to all other <i>Palaeobatrachus</i> species. Extreme adaptation to permanent life in water is evidenced in <i>P. eurydices</i> by absence of the fossa cubitalis ventralis, and less developed olecranon on the radioulna. The water-rich and warm environment of Tegelen, indicated by other elements of the fauna such as beavers and the terrapin <i>Mauremys</i>, could have acted as a refugium for these water-dwelling anurans, which were thought to have disappeared from western Europe by the Miocene/Pliocene boundary. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:377FD70A-C201-4F95-BB30-BF5CE0D75A3F SUPPLEMENTAL DATA—Supplemental materials are available for this article for free at www.tandfonline.com/UJVP Citation for this article: Villa, A., Z. Roček, E. Tschopp, L. W. van den Hoek Ostende, and M. Delfino. 2016. <i>Palaeobatrachus eurydices</i>, sp. nov. (Amphibia, Anura), the last western European palaeobatrachid. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2016.1211664.