Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
367 / Paleozoic
Cacops
Cacops aspidephorus
A row of bony back plates reinforced this stocky terrestrial amphibian.
View original image · 1600 × 1067- Time range
- About 289–272 million years ago
- Final stage
- Early Permian
- Geographic range
- Seasonally dry uplands · Oklahoma, USA
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Cacops?
Cacops (Cacops aspidephorus) was an extinct organism known from About 289–272 million years ago, with a range in Seasonally dry uplands · Oklahoma, USA.
Life and ecology
Cacops probably hunted insects and small vertebrates near shade and burrows.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Cacops disappear?
Increasing aridity and turnover among land predators are possible context; the fossil record does not establish why the genus disappeared.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Cacops?
Skulls, vertebrae and aligned osteoderms constrain the armor; color and behavior remain inferred.
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