''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 t ...

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

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 a ...

and in the Morien Group of

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 ...

in North America.''Cochleosaurus''
at Fossilworks.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 Semi aquatic animals include: * Ve ...

ambush predator, hunting like modern crocodiles. 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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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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