In Depth The name Mastodonsaurus means ‘breast tooth lizard’, and this came about from the observation of G. F. Jaegar who was describing a broken tooth. Later, when other teeth of Mastodonsaurus were found they were found to be no different from the teeth of most other temnospondyls. The signature features of Mastodonsaurus are the … Read more
In Depth The genus Metoposaurus was originally named as Metopias by Christian von Meyer in 1842, but the name was replaced and changed to Metoposaurus by Richard Lydekker in 1890. Metoposaurus is the type species of the Metoposauridae, a group of temnospondyl amphibians that are particularly noted for having eyes that are placed further forward … Read more
In Depth Rastosuchus is a genus of temnospondyl amphibian known to have lived in South America during the late Permian. Further Reading - A new short-snouted rhinesuchid from the Permian of southern Brazil. - Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia. 23 (2): 98–122. - Eliseu Vieira Dias, S�rgio Dias-da-Silva & Cesar Leandro Schultz - 2020.
In Depth Megalophthalma is a genus of temnospondyl amphibian that lived in Germany during the mid Triassic. Further Reading - Skull morphology and phylogenetic relationships of a new Middle Triassic plagiosaurid temnospondyl from Germany, and the evolution of plagiosaurid eyes. - Palaeontology. - R. R. Schoch, A. R. Milner & F. Witzmann - 2014.
In Depth Calmasuchus is genus of temnospondyl amphibian that lived in Spain during the Triassic. Further Reading - A new capitosaur from the Middle Triassic of Spain and the relationships within the Capitosauria. - Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 56:553-566. - J. Fortuny, A. Galobart & C. De Santisteban - 2011.
In Depth Rileymillerus is a little known genus of temnospondyl amphibian that lived in Texas during the late Triassic. Further Reading - A new temnospondyl amphibian from the Late Triassic of Texas. - Journal of Paleontology 74(4):670-683. - J. R. Bolt & S. Chatterjee - 2000.
In Depth Pelorocephalus lived towards the end of the Triassic, a time just before the temnospondyl amphibians declined to be only a small portion of their former selves. Pelorocephalus was typical of the temnospondyl body type, resembling a large heavily built salamander-like creature that in the instance of Pelorocephalus grew to around one meter long, … Read more
In Depth While not the last of the large carnivorous amphibians, Rhinesuchus existed at a time when the majority of the other species became extinct during the Permian-triassic extinction event. After this time the reptiles would become the dominant life forms until the KT extinction. The skull on Rhinesuchus had a flat triangular shape with … Read more
In Depth Apachesaurus was a member of the Metoposauridae group of temnospondyl amphibians, though one that was particularly small. The larger close relatives of Apachesaurus include Metoposaurus and Koskinonodon which could grow up to two and a half to three meters long. Apachesaurus however grew only to around just over forty centimetres long. Due to … Read more
In Depth Microposaurus is a genus of stereospondyl amphibian that lived during the early Triassic. For a long time Microposaurus fossils were only known from South Africa, but in 2012 a description of Microposaurus fossils from Australia was published. This also saw the creation of a second Microposaurus species, M. averyi. Fossil remains from Jordan … Read more