#lysorophus

[dromaeosaurid]

"Nestled on the water's bottom of silt and plant debris are juvenile and adult Diplocaulus with a coiled Lysorophus. Both Lysorophus and juvenile Diplocaulus were amphibians which could burrow within the mud and aestivate to survive droughts until rains replenished their water-holes. However, in addition to being too large, the expanded crescent-shaped skulls of adult Diplocaulus prevented them from being able to burrow and survive by aestivating. Lysorophus reached lengths of 60 cms (2 ft) and full grown Diplocaulus were as much as 1 m (3 ft) long."

From Dinosaurs: A Global View (1990) by Sylvia J. Czerkas & Stephen A. Czerkas. Illustrated by Douglas Henderson, Mark Hallett, John Sibbick.

[uncleredart]

Some Permian amphibians. These things are OLD. The Permian period was about 290 million years ago. It's hard to visualize such a big number, but for reference human beings have been around for only the last two hundred thousand years. And these extinct guys are just babies compared to some of earth's earliest life... _____ #permian #paleoart #prehistoric #amphibian #amphibians #diplocaulus #dvinosaurus #eryops #lysorophus #paleozoic #evolution #earthday #earth https://www.instagram.com/p/BwlNx2AnNeS/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1r9d60p9tsuz8

[alphynix]

Amphibian August #23 -- Lysorophus

Lysorophus lived during the Late Carboniferous and Early Permian of North America and Europe (~306-272 mya). A member of the lysorophian group of lepospondyls, it was a fully aquatic animal with an eel-like body and highly reduced limbs, growing up to about 30cm long (1′).

Although often considered to be relatives of the microsaurs, lysorophians may actually have been much closer to the aïstopods -- and are one of the possible candidates for closest known relatives of living amphibians.

Some fossil specimens are found tightly coiled up, each inside an individual burrow, and this has been interpreted as aestivation behavior during dry seasons.