Metoposaurus

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iMetoposaurus
Fossil range: Late Triassic
Conservation status
Extinct (fossil)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Temnospondyli
Family: Metoposauridae
Genus: Metoposaurus
Lydekker, 1890
Species
  • M. ouazzoui
  •  ?M. bakeri

Metoposaurus is an extinct genus of temnospondyl amphibian.

The highly flattened creature was probably mostly aquatic, possessing small, weak limbs. Metoposaurus's main diet was fish which it captured with its wide jaws lined with needle teeth. A lot of Metoposaurus mass graves have been found, probably from creatures that grouped together in drying pools during drought. Metoposaurus was up to 3 m (10 ft) long and one of the last large amphibians. Still, the much larger Koolasuchus survived far into the Cretaceous.

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