Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
214 / Paleozoic
Eryops
Eryops megacephalus
A broad, heavily sculpted skull and strong limbs carried its massive body through shallow water and onto banks.
View original image · 1536 × 1024- Time range
- About 295–280 million years ago
- Final stage
- Early Permian
- Geographic range
- Rivers, lakeshores and floodplains · Southern USA
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Eryops?
Eryops (Eryops megacephalus) was an extinct organism known from About 295–280 million years ago, with a range in Rivers, lakeshores and floodplains · Southern USA.
Life and ecology
Eryops was a large temnospondyl that probably ambushed fish in water and moved short distances on land. Palatal fangs reinforced its prey-catching bite.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Eryops disappear?
Drying climates and changing freshwater faunas are the likely setting for its decline; the fossil record does not show that a particular competitor replaced it.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Eryops?
Abundant skulls, vertebrae and limb bones reveal a powerful skeleton; sediments and associated fauna constrain its amphibious 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