| Zatracheidae | |
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| Diagram of zatracheid skulls | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Order: | †Temnospondyli |
| Superfamily: | †Eryopoidea |
| Family: | †Zatracheidae Cope, 1882 |
| Genera | |
| Synonyms | |
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Synonyms
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Zatracheidae (sometimes mistakenly spelled Zatrachydidae or Zatrachysdidae) is a family of Late Carboniferous and Early Permian temnospondyls known from North America and Europe. Zatracheidids are distinguished by lateral (sideways) bony protuberances of the quadratojugal bone of the skull, and a large opening in the snout called the internarial fontanelle (sometimes the internarial fenestra) that is bordered by enlarged premaxillae. The skull is flattened, with small orbits or eye sockets set far back. The opening in the snout may have housed a gland for producing a sticky substance so that prey would adhere to the tongue. If so, this indicates that these animals spent a large part of their time on land.[1]
- ^ Patton, R. L. (1975). "A lower Permian temnospondylous amphibian from the English Midlands" (PDF). Palaeontology. 18 (4): 831–845.