Period of life:
306-255 mya
Period:
Habitat:
Freshwater environment
Taxonomy:
Amphibians
Height:
0.2 m
Countries:
![Morocco 3D Dinopedia images/flags/Morocco.png](https://dinopedia.online/images/flags/Morocco.png)
![USA 3D Dinopedia images/flags/USA.png](https://dinopedia.online/images/flags/USA.png)
![Permian period Diplocaulus | 3D Dinopedia](https://dinopedia.online/storage/dino-images/diplocaulus-image-skin-thumbnail.png)
![Permian period Diplocaulus 3D Dinopedia](https://dinopedia.online/storage/dinos-images/116/64a53eac24e85.jpg)
![Permian period Diplocaulus 3D Dinopedia](https://dinopedia.online/storage/dinos-images/116/64a53eaf52140.jpg)
Meaning of the name: Double membrane
Diplocaul, also known as Diplocaulus, was an extinct amphibian that lived about 300-250 million years ago in the southern United States and northern Morocco. It had a stout body with a boomerang-shaped head. In terms of lifestyle, it was similar to a fairly large salamander, reaching up to a meter in length. The complete tail of the genus is unknown, but the most complete articulated skeleton, described in 1917, preserved a series of tail vertebrae near the skull.
This was interpreted as indirect evidence of a long, slender tail capable of reaching the head if the animal coiled itself. In most studies conducted after this discovery, it is claimed that eel-like tail movement was the main driving force of Diplocaulus. Judging by body imprints, a skin fold stretched from the boomerang-shaped head to the limbs, giving the amphibian a resemblance to a stingray. Scientists believe that the ideal food source for these tetrapods were small Paleoniscid fish, which were abundant in freshwater bodies of that time.
Other animals