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Description
Eryops Megacephalus

When one thinks of amphibians of today, they may think of a frog, salamander, or maybe a caecilian. Today, the largest amphibian, the endangered Chinese Salamander grows as long as a man and on the upper end, can crest 100lbs. However, during the Permian, amphibians were at their most diverse. Namely the temnospondyls, this diverse group included animals that were the sizes of medium salamanders, to giants with armor, claws, teeth, and even marine-dwelling amphibians.

One of the largest and most well-known is the American Eryops megacephalus.

History of Discovery:

In 1887, during the infamous bone wars, Edward Drinker Cope described a fossil from Texas. What he uncovered was a massive skull of an animal that he identified as some sort of primitive amphibian. The skull was rectangular, equipped with peg-teeth designed for snagging prey, based on the size of the skull, he named it Eryops megacephalus. The genus name derived from the Greek meaning “Drawn Out Face,” and the specific name from the Latin, which means, “Massive or Large skull”.

Description:

Eryops is a massive temnospondyl. Many people think of Amphibians as lithely built in terms of their skeletons. However, this is not the case with temnospondyls, and even more so with Eryops. The skeleton is far more calcified compared to modern amphibians. Furthermore, the limbs and torso were extremely robust. Likely housing powerful muscles designed to propel it on land. The largest specimens were around 8-9ft long and weighed 300-440lbs.

The skull that gives the creature its name is elongated, around 2ft long. The teeth were peg-like and recurved designed for grasping prey rather than shearing through prey. However, on the roof of the mouth, there were 3 pairs of recurved teeth. Probably designed to get a better grip on animals it predated upon.

Despite the fact that this animal was an amphibian, it likely spent far more time on land compared to its contemporaries. Given the fact that its tail was short and stout, it probably was not effective at propelling it through the water. As previously mentioned, the limbs were robust and muscular designed to move its bulk around.

In 1941, skin impressions of this animal were discovered in Texas. It appeared to have raised oval-shaped bumps on the skin, reminiscent to that of newts and toads. Animals that, while they do live near wet are more land-oriented amphibians. Although they had to return to the water to breed and lay their eggs, Eryops were more land oriented compared to other temnospondyls.

Habitat:

Eryops evolved first in the end of the Carboniferous some 298,000,000 years ago. At first, the habitat would have been mainly wetlands with a more tropical environment. Giant insects like Arthropleura and Meganeura would have lived alongside Eryops with it prowling the waterways of the late Carboniferous. At the end of the carboniferous, there was a period known as the carboniferous rainforest collapse, where many species of giant insects died out and their habitat vanished.

Later on during the early Permian, it lived alongside synapsid predators like Dimetrodon and Edaphosaurus, and Platyhystrix, another land-dwelling but sail-backed temnospondyl. The region at this time would have been a wet, but drier climate compared to the carboniferous. Ferns and early seed plants would have been prevalent at this time, with rivers flowing through the environment. Eryops would have thrived in this climate, feeding upon smaller temnospondyls, fish and small synapsids. While they could have fed upon aquatic prey, more likely they hunted animals on land more often.

Extinction:

Regardless of how magnificent this amphibian was, and despite it making through the Carboniferous-Permian boundary, it was unable to fight the changing climate at the dawn of the Permian. Analysis of the rocks where Eryops has been found indicate that this animal vanished around 278,000,000 years ago. While it was not a casualty of the end-Permian extinction event (AKA the Great Dying), there were periods of climate change throughout the Permian. It’s likely due to these, and with rising temperatures, resulted in drier climates. Although Eryops was more land-oriented compared to other temnospondyls, the fact it was tied to the water, meant it couldn’t reproduce, and this animal vanished.

Eryops may be gone, but today, its lineage lives on in the form of modern amphibians. Eryops shows that amphibians were once far more diverse than they are now. At this time, they were not just semi-aquatic predators, but filled a variety of niches including more land-oriented predators

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Now, I did actually have a plan for describing the relationship between modern amphibians and temnospondyls. However, I ultimately copied and pasted that into a new doc which I hope to get into later this year. However, I’ve been busy with other paleo profiles as well as my new job so I’ll try to avg. about one profile a week but can’t keep many promises.

Will this be in PMP? NO. I will snag a temnospondyl in season 2, but, as far as what it’s gonna be… well… you’ll have to wait and see. I have no plans though to go back further than the Triassic.

Original Model and Skin by Demon Hunter:
Eryops (Demon Hunter) | ZT2 Download Library Wiki | Fandom

Description
Eryops Megacephalus

When one thinks of amphibians of today, they may think of a frog, salamander, or maybe a caecilian. Today, the largest amphibian, the endangered Chinese Salamander grows as long as a man and on the upper end, can crest 100lbs. However, during the Permian, amphibians were at their most diverse. Namely the temnospondyls, this diverse group included animals that were the sizes of medium salamanders, to giants with armor, claws, teeth, and even marine-dwelling amphibians.

One of the largest and most well-known is the American Eryops megacephalus.

History of Discovery:

In 1887, during the infamous bone wars, Edward Drinker Cope described a fossil from Texas. What he uncovered was a massive skull of an animal that he identified as some sort of primitive amphibian. The skull was rectangular, equipped with peg-teeth designed for snagging prey, based on the size of the skull, he named it Eryops megacephalus. The genus name derived from the Greek meaning “Drawn Out Face,” and the specific name from the Latin, which means, “Massive or Large skull”.

Description:

Eryops is a massive temnospondyl. Many people think of Amphibians as lithely built in terms of their skeletons. However, this is not the case with temnospondyls, and even more so with Eryops. The skeleton is far more calcified compared to modern amphibians. Furthermore, the limbs and torso were extremely robust. Likely housing powerful muscles designed to propel it on land. The largest specimens were around 8-9ft long and weighed 300-440lbs.

The skull that gives the creature its name is elongated, around 2ft long. The teeth were peg-like and recurved designed for grasping prey rather than shearing through prey. However, on the roof of the mouth, there were 3 pairs of recurved teeth. Probably designed to get a better grip on animals it predated upon.

Despite the fact that this animal was an amphibian, it likely spent far more time on land compared to its contemporaries. Given the fact that its tail was short and stout, it probably was not effective at propelling it through the water. As previously mentioned, the limbs were robust and muscular designed to move its bulk around.

In 1941, skin impressions of this animal were discovered in Texas. It appeared to have raised oval-shaped bumps on the skin, reminiscent to that of newts and toads. Animals that, while they do live near wet are more land-oriented amphibians. Although they had to return to the water to breed and lay their eggs, Eryops were more land oriented compared to other temnospondyls.

Habitat:

Eryops evolved first in the end of the Carboniferous some 298,000,000 years ago. At first, the habitat would have been mainly wetlands with a more tropical environment. Giant insects like Arthropleura and Meganeura would have lived alongside Eryops with it prowling the waterways of the late Carboniferous. At the end of the carboniferous, there was a period known as the carboniferous rainforest collapse, where many species of giant insects died out and their habitat vanished.

Later on during the early Permian, it lived alongside synapsid predators like Dimetrodon and Edaphosaurus, and Platyhystrix, another land-dwelling but sail-backed temnospondyl. The region at this time would have been a wet, but drier climate compared to the carboniferous. Ferns and early seed plants would have been prevalent at this time, with rivers flowing through the environment. Eryops would have thrived in this climate, feeding upon smaller temnospondyls, fish and small synapsids. While they could have fed upon aquatic prey, more likely they hunted animals on land more often.

Extinction:

Regardless of how magnificent this amphibian was, and despite it making through the Carboniferous-Permian boundary, it was unable to fight the changing climate at the dawn of the Permian. Analysis of the rocks where Eryops has been found indicate that this animal vanished around 278,000,000 years ago. While it was not a casualty of the end-Permian extinction event (AKA the Great Dying), there were periods of climate change throughout the Permian. It’s likely due to these, and with rising temperatures, resulted in drier climates. Although Eryops was more land-oriented compared to other temnospondyls, the fact it was tied to the water, meant it couldn’t reproduce, and this animal vanished.

Eryops may be gone, but today, its lineage lives on in the form of modern amphibians. Eryops shows that amphibians were once far more diverse than they are now. At this time, they were not just semi-aquatic predators, but filled a variety of niches including more land-oriented predators

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Now, I did actually have a plan for describing the relationship between modern amphibians and temnospondyls. However, I ultimately copied and pasted that into a new doc which I hope to get into later this year. However, I’ve been busy with other paleo profiles as well as my new job so I’ll try to avg. about one profile a week but can’t keep many promises.

Will this be in PMP? NO. I will snag a temnospondyl in season 2, but, as far as what it’s gonna be… well… you’ll have to wait and see. I have no plans though to go back further than the Triassic.

Original Model and Skin by Demon Hunter:
Eryops (Demon Hunter) | ZT2 Download Library Wiki | Fandom