''Cochleosaurus'' ('spoon lizard') is a name of a

tetrapod Tetrapods (; ) are four-limbed vertebrate animals constituting the superclass Tetrapoda (). It includes extant and extinct amphibians, sauropsids ( reptiles, including dinosaurs and therefore birds) and synapsids (pelycosaurs, extinct theraps ...

belonging to

Temnospondyli Temnospondyli (from Greek τέμνειν, ''temnein'' 'to cut' and σπόνδυλος, ''spondylos'' 'vertebra') is a diverse order of small to giant tetrapods—often considered primitive amphibians—that flourished worldwide during the Carb ...

, which lived during the late

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...

period ( Moscovian, about 310 million years ago). The great abundance of its remains (about 50 specimens) have been found in the

Kladno Formation Kladno (; german: Kladen) is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 67,000 inhabitants. It is the largest city in the region and together with its adjacent suburban areas has a population of more than 110,000. ...

of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, near

Nýřany Nýřany (; german: Nürschan) is a town in Plzeň-North District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 6,900 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Doubrava and Kamenný Újezd are administrative parts of Nýřany. Geo ...

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the area' ...

and in the

Morien Group ''Moriaen'' (also spelled ''Moriaan'', ''Morien'') is a 13th-century Arthurian romance in Middle Dutch. A 4,720-line version is preserved in the vast Lancelot Compilation, and a short fragment exists at the Royal Library at Brussels.Besamusca, B ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

.''Cochleosaurus''
at

Fossilworks Fossilworks is a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals ...

.org It was a creature of medium size, measuring 120-160 centimeters. It is believed that ''Cochleosaurus'' was a

semiaquatic In biology, semiaquatic can refer to various types of animals that spend part of their time in water, or plants that naturally grow partially submerged in water. Examples are given below. Semiaquatic animals Semiaquatic animals include: * Verte ...

ambush predator, hunting like modern

crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...

s. Czech paleontologist

Antonin Fritsch Antonin may refer to: People * Antonin (name) Places ;Poland * Antonin, Jarocin County, Greater Poland Voivodeship * Antonin, Kalisz County, Greater Poland Voivodeship * Antonin, Oborniki County, Greater Poland Voivodeship * Antonin, Ostrów ...

named the genus in 1885 in reference to the spoon-shaped processes on the supra-occipital bones at the back of the skull (from Latin ''cochlear'' "spoon" and Greek ''sauros'' "lizard").

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References

External links

Moscovian
- Palaeos.com

- Palaeos.com Cochleosauridae Carboniferous temnospondyls of Europe Prehistoric amphibian genera Paleozoic life of Nova Scotia Fossils of the Czech Republic Fossil taxa described in 1885 Taxa named by Antonin Fritsch {{Temnospondyli-stub

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References

Further reading

External links