Animalia > Chordata > Amphibia > Metoposauridae > Metoposaurus

Metoposaurus

Synonyms: Metopias

Wikipedia Abstract

Metoposaurus (pronounced Me-top-o-sore-us) meaning "front lizard" is an extinct genus of Stereospondyli temnospondyl amphibian, known from the Late Triassic of Germany, Italy, Poland, and Portugal. This mostly aquatic animal possessed small, weak limbs, sharp teeth, and a large, flat head. This highly flattened creature mainly fed on fish, which it captured with its wide jaws lined with needle-like teeth. Metoposaurus was up to 3 m (10 feet) long and weighed 454 kg (1,000 pounds),. Many Metoposaurus mass graves have been found, probably from creatures that grouped together in drying pools during drought.
View Wikipedia Record: Metoposaurus

Species

External References

Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0