“A newly discovered 157-million-year-old salamander is the oldest of its kind and would’ve swum with the aquatic beasts of the Jurassic. The discovery supports the idea that this order diverged from other salamanders earlier than thought, the researchers said. Six specimens of this new species, now called Beiyanerpeton jianpingensis, were discovered in the Tiaojishan Formation, in Liaoning Province, China. Some other salamander specimens discovered in the area are quite a bit smaller than B. jianpingensis, suggesting they are either juveniles or a smaller species. The salamander’s scientific name comes from ‘beiyan,’ an ancient name for the area in which it was discovered, and ‘herpeton,’ the Greek word for creeping animal.” w/ photo