Editing Tadpole (section)

==Fossil record==
Despite their soft-bodied nature and lack of mineralised hard parts, fossil tadpoles (around 10&nbsp;cm in length) have been recovered from Upper [[Miocene]] strata.<ref name=Mcnamara2009>{{cite journal|last1=McNamara|first1=M. E.|last2=Orr|first2=P. J.|last3=Kearns|first3=S. L.|last4=Alcalá |first4=L.|last5=Anadón|first5=P.|last6=Peñalver-Mollá|first6=E.|year=2009|title=Exceptionally preserved tadpoles from the Miocene of Libros, Spain: ecomorphological reconstruction and the impact of ontogeny upon taphonomy|journal=[[Lethaia]]|volume=43|issue=3|pages=290–306|doi=10.1111/j.1502-3931.2009.00192.x|hdl=10261/141680|hdl-access=free}}</ref> They are preserved by virtue of [[biofilm]]s, with more robust structures (the jaw and bones) preserved as a [[Carbonaceous film (paleontology)|carbon film]].<ref name=Mcnamara2006>
{{cite conference|last1=McNamara|first1=M. E.|last2=Orr|first2=P. J.|last3=Kearns|first3=S. L.|last4=Alcalá|first4=L.|last5=Anadón|first5=P.|last6=Peñalver-Mollá|first6=E.|year=2006|url=http://downloads.palass.org/annual_meeting/2006/Annual2006Schedule&Abstracts.pdf|title=Taphonomy of exceptionally preserved tadpoles from the Miocene Libros fauna, Spain: Ontogeny, ecology and mass mortality|conference=The Palaeontological Association 50th Annual Meeting|publisher=[[The Palaeontological Association]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727162301/http://downloads.palass.org/annual_meeting/2006/Annual2006Schedule%26Abstracts.pdf|archive-date=2011-07-27}}</ref> In Miocene fossils from [[Libros]], Spain, the [[Neurocranium|brain case]] is preserved in [[calcium carbonate]], and the nerve cord in [[calcium phosphate]]. Other parts of the tadpoles' bodies exist as organic remains and bacterial biofilms, with sedimentary [[detritus]] present in the gut.<ref name=Mcnamara2009/> Tadpole remains with telltale external gills are also known from several [[Labyrinthodontia|labyrinthodont]] groups. The oldest unambiguous fossil, a tadpole of the species ''[[Notobatrachus|Notobatrachus deguistioi]]'' from the [[Middle Jurassic]], was published on in 2024.<ref name="auto"/>