| Cordicephalus gracilis Temporal range: Lower Cretaceous, 112.0–125.0 Ma |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Anura |
| Suborder: | Mesobatrachia |
| Superfamily: | Pipoidea |
| (unranked): | Pipimorpha |
| Genus: | Cordicephalus Nevo, 1968[1] |
| Species: | †Cordicephalus gracilis |
Cordicephalus gracilis is the only[2] species in the extinct genus Cordicephalus, a genus of prehistoric frogs. Fossils of C. gracilis were found in a lacustrine deposit in Makhtesh Ramon called "Amphibian Hill" and it is believed they lived during the Lower Cretaceous.[1]
When first described by Eviatar Nevo of the University of Haifa[3] (in 1968) the genus Cordicephalus was thought to contain two species, C. gracilis and C. longicostatus.[4] Since then it was redescribed and it was determined that C. gracilis was the only species in the genus.[2]
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The genus' name derives from the Latin cordi (cor meaning heart) and cephalus (meaning head). The name comes from the heart-like shape of its skull. The species name, gracilis, comes from the Latin for slender.[5]
Like its close relatives, C. gracilis was fairly small, about 30 millimetres (1.2 in) in length. It had a flat skull which was almost as wide as it was long, features usually found in aquatic animals. Other features that support that view that C. gracilis had a mainly aquatic lifestyle is its short axial column as well as large foot bones which may imply extensive webbing.[2]