Abundant well−preserved salamander fossils have recently been recovered from localities across northeastern China. Pangerpeton sinensis gen. et sp. nov. is represented by a nearly complete skeletal impression of a ostmetamorphosed salamander from the Late Jurassic/Early Cretaceous locality of Wubaiding, Liaoning Province. It is characterised by a short wide skull and only 14 presacral vertebrae. Associated soft tissue impressions suggest a warty skin and a broad body outline. Phylogenetic analysis indicates a basal position within Caudata, either just within or just outside crown−group Urodela.

Yuan Wang [wangyuan@ivpp.ac.cn], Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 142 Xi−Zhi−Men−Wai St, P.O.Box 643, Beijing 100044, China; Susan E. Evans [ucgasue@ucl.ac.uk], Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, England.