Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
373 / Paleozoic
Adelospondylus
Adelospondylus watsoni
The limbs vanished entirely while the skull and spine retained tetrapod construction.
View original image · 1600 × 1067- Time range
- About 330 million years ago
- Final stage
- Middle Carboniferous
- Geographic range
- Coal-swamp freshwater · Scotland
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Adelospondylus?
Adelospondylus (Adelospondylus watsoni) was an extinct organism known from About 330 million years ago, with a range in Coal-swamp freshwater · Scotland.
Life and ecology
It swam by undulating an eel-like body through vegetation-rich pools.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Adelospondylus disappear?
Turnover in coal swamps and elongated aquatic tetrapods is possible context; a specific cause is not established.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Adelospondylus?
Skulls and articulated vertebrae show no limb girdles or limbs; soft fin edges are speculative.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Rewrote an extinction cause that presented environmental or faunal turnover as established; it is now given as context the record does not prove.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS