570 vanished lives

103Paleozoic

Weight-bearing limbs accompanied a fish-like tail in an animal still deeply tied to water.

118Recently extinct

Brilliant orange males gathered briefly each rainy season within a tiny highland range.

119Recently extinct

Females swallowed fertilized eggs, suppressed stomach acid and released developed froglets from the mouth.

212Paleozoic

Each forelimb carried eight digits, yet the animal was still mainly aquatic—digits evolved before true land walking.

213Paleozoic

Its skull spread sideways into a boomerang, perhaps producing lift in current or making it hard to swallow.

214Paleozoic

A broad, heavily sculpted skull and strong limbs carried its massive body through shallow water and onto banks.

215Paleozoic

Its adult skeleton looked reptile-like, yet it belonged just outside the fully land-breeding amniotes.

216Paleozoic

A high bony sail towered above the squat body and may have served display, recognition or heat exchange.

217Paleozoic

A giant Brazilian amphibian with a crocodile-like snout; its famous 9-metre length is a reconstruction from fragmentary fossils.

323Mesozoic

A shovel-flat skull may have opened by lifting the upper jaw.

324Mesozoic

A broad flat head occupied nearly the full width of its front body.

325Paleozoic

Tiny limbs and strong jaws show an early tetrapod returning almost completely to water.

351Mesozoic

A broad skull and massive body made it one of the largest known frogs.

352Mesozoic

A giant amphibian still occupied cold rivers where crocodyliforms were uncommon.

353Mesozoic

Two lower-jaw tusks passed through openings in the palate when the mouth closed.

354Mesozoic

It had a broad head and shortened trunk but lacked the full jumping machinery of modern frogs.

355Paleozoic

A frog-like head and salamander-like tail combine traits near the origin of living amphibians.

356Mesozoic

The adult tail was gone, but the trunk remained more primitive than in modern frogs.

357Mesozoic

A broad head, short trunk and long tail show the salamander plan already well established.

358Cenozoic

Its wedge-shaped skull belonged to an ancient amphibian lineage separate from frogs and salamanders.

359Paleozoic

An elongated nostril region may reflect life in drier upland settings.

360Paleozoic

More than forty trunk vertebrae formed a long body with extremely small limbs.

361Paleozoic

Adults retained external gills, extending a juvenile condition through life.

362Paleozoic

Forward-facing toes show an early tetrapod using a more effective terrestrial gait.