The oldest representative of a brown frog (Ranidae) from the Early Mioceneof Germany

The brown frogs (Rana temporaria-group) are a monophyletic group in the fam ily Ranidae, which have a scarce fossil record in Europe that begins only i n the Late Pliocene, A new fossil from the Dietrichsberg locality (Germany, Thuringia) extends their stratigraphic range back to the Early Miocene, an d suggests that their origin lies outside the Western Palaearctic, most pro bably in Asia, with subsequent immigration in the Burdigalian.