Diplocaulus
magnicornis
Diplocaulus magnicornis Cope, 1882 skull from the Lower Permian of Baylor County,
northern Texas, USA (“UC 637”, ex-University of Chicago, now housed at the
Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois, USA). This fossil
amphibian is remarkable for its long, bony, posterolateral extensions of the
skull. Diplocaulus has been interpreted as an entirely aquatic
amphibian. The oddly-shaped skull was apparently used, when tilted, to
help the creature surface rapidly while swimming. The skull shape also
acts to prevent predators from consuming Diplocaulus whole.
In the 1960s, a remarkable concentration of hundreds
of Diplocaulus remains was collected from a single locality in the
Permian Vale Formation of Texas, USA, representing a drought-concentration of
animals in a dried-out river channel (see Dalquest & Mamay, 1963 - Journal
of Geology 71: 641-644).
Classification: Animalia, Chordata, Vertebrata, Amphibia,
Lepospondyli, Nectridea, Keraterpetontidae