Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
366 / Paleozoic
Dendrerpeton
Dendrerpeton acadianum
Many individuals were entombed inside hollow tree stumps.
View original image · 1600 × 1067- Time range
- About 315–305 million years ago
- Final stage
- Late Carboniferous
- Geographic range
- Coal-forest floor · Nova Scotia, Canada
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Dendrerpeton?
Dendrerpeton (Dendrerpeton acadianum) was an extinct organism known from About 315–305 million years ago, with a range in Coal-forest floor · Nova Scotia, Canada.
Life and ecology
This terrestrial temnospondyl hunted insects, snails and other small animals in forest litter.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Dendrerpeton disappear?
Rainforest collapse and the spread of drought-tolerant tetrapods are proposed context for its decline; their precise role is not established.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Dendrerpeton?
Tree-stump fills preserve skulls and skeletons along with their unusual burial setting.
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