Late Jurassic salamandroid from western Liaoning, China

Holotype PKUP V0601 and referred specimens PKUP V0602–V0606 preserve an Oxfordian salamandroid with larval structures interpreted as neoteny; the 157 ± 3 Ma zircon date is from overlying rock and the placement is sample-dependent.

Beiyanerpeton is represented by holotype PKUP V0601 and referred specimens PKUP V0602–V0606 and was recovered within Salamandroidea in the published matrix.

The six represented Beiyanerpeton specimens come from the Tiaojishan Formation at Hengdaozi in western Liaoning, China; no global range is inferred.

Larval structures inform developmental interpretation, but diet, precise habitat preference, locomotor performance and trophic guild remain unavailable.

The articulated Beiyanerpeton series preserves salamandroid anatomy and larval structures interpreted as evidence of neoteny.

The displayed 160–154 Ma interval bounds the Oxfordian sample; the 157 ± 3 Ma zircon date comes from overlying rock rather than directly from a skeleton.

The Beiyanerpeton series preserves articulated cranial and postcranial skeletons with bony gill structures close to the cheek region; these specimen-level observations do not generalize to all Caudata.

The Amphibian fossil evidence route navigation entity is source-linked only to the named specimen, dataset and analysis dossiers already cited by its range ledger. Its displayed span is a study-bounded route or sample envelope, not a biological taxon, ancestor sequence, global FAD/LAD or exact origin interval.

Six Beiyanerpeton specimens and an overlying 157 ± 3 Ma zircon date support a 160–154 Ma study-sample window within the Caudata route; the rock date is not a direct fossil date or order-wide FAD.

Shen et al. test higher-level salamander relationships with 102 nuclear markers, while Gao et al. describe Beiyanerpeton as a salamandroid sample; the resulting Caudata classification is sampled evidence rather than a final tree or direct-ancestor sequence.

Gao et al. report Beiyanerpeton from the Tiaojishan Formation of western Liaoning, China, while Shen et al. sample living salamander lineages for markers; these records provide study localities and taxa, not a complete geographic distribution of Caudata.

The cited salamander marker study and Beiyanerpeton fossil description address relationships, anatomy and geological context rather than diet, habitat use, locomotion, body size or ecological guild; those fields remain unassigned for Caudata here.