Cochleosaurus

Cochleosaurus
Temporal range: Moscovian
~310 Ma
↓
Skull in Vienna
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: †Temnospondyli
Family: †Cochleosauridae
Subfamily: †Cochleosaurinae
Genus: †Cochleosaurus
Fritsch 1885
Species
Synonyms
  • Gaudrya Fritsch 1885
  • Nyrania Fritsch 1885

Cochleosaurus (“spoon lizard”, from the Latin cochlear "spoon" and Greek sauros “lizard”_ were medium-sized edopoid temnospondyls that lived in Euramerica during the Moscovian age.[1] Two species, C. bohemicus and C. florensis, have been identified from the fossil record.[2][1]

Both species lived in equatorial saltwater marshes with highly variable water depth.[3] The majority of Cochleosaurus remains have been discovered in fossil assemblages in the Late Carboniferous Sydney Coalfield in Nova Scotia and the Kladno Formation in the Czech Republic.[1][2]

  1. ^ a b c Sequeira, Sandra E. K. (March 2003). "The skull of Cochleosaurus bohemicus Frič, a temnospondyl from the Czech Republic (Upper Carboniferous) and cochleosaurid interrelationships". Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences. 94 (1): 21–43. doi:10.1017/S0263593300000511. ISSN 0263-5933. S2CID 130533789.
  2. ^ a b Rieppel, Olivier (1980). "The edopoid amphibian Cochleosaurus from the Middle Pennsylvanian of Nova Scotia" (PDF). Palaeontology. 23 (1): 143–149.
  3. ^ Wightman, Winton G.; Scott, David B.; Medioli, Franco S.; Gibling, Martin R. (1994-01-01). "Agglutinated foraminifera and thecamoebians from the Late Carboniferous Sydney coalfield, Nova Scotia: paleoecology, paleoenvironments and paleogeographical implications". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. The Euramerican coal province: Controls on tropical peat accumulation. 106 (1): 187–202. doi:10.1016/0031-0182(94)90010-8. ISSN 0031-0182.