Zygosaurus Temporal range: Middle Permian
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Life restoration of Zygosaurus | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Order: | †Temnospondyli |
Family: | †Dissorophidae |
Clade: | †Eucacopinae |
Genus: | †Zygosaurus Eichwald, 1848 |
Type species | |
†Zygosaurus lucius Eichwald, 1848
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Zygosaurus is an extinct genus of dissorophid temnospondyl from the Middle-Late Permian of Russia. It was described in 1848 by Eduard Eichwald, making it the first dissorophid to be described and is known from a single species, Zygosaurus lucius.[1] The location of the holotype, and only known specimen, is unknown,[2] and although casts are reposited in several institutions, little is known about this taxon beyond qualitative aspects of the skull (e.g., preorbital length twice as long as postorbital length; skull width greatest at mid-length of orbits).[3] The skull was estimated to be around 20 cm in length, making it one of the largest dissorophids, being only slightly smaller than Kamacops.[2]