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Description

A selection of the temnospondyls known as capitosaurs, to scale.

Note this image is no longer accurate and has been revised - www.deviantart.com/artbyjrc/ar…

For much of the Triassic, capitosaurs were a global group that filled the aquatic hunting niche similar to modern crocodiles. Ironically as crocodilians took to the water, around the end of the Triassic, they replaced the amphibians in this role. Mastodonsaurids form the largest family within the Capitosauria, and ranged from relatively small-bodied species to absolute giants. At 6 metres, Mastodonsaurus is the largest known species, and is also one of the largest amphibians ever to exist. All species had similar body shapes with long flat triangular heads, squat bodies, reduced limbs with poor joints, and a short tail. As ambush hunters they probably rarely left the water, preferring to sit and wait for prey to approach them. Along the skull are sensitive grooves which would help the amphibians to detect potential prey. In a similar way to the unrelated giant salamanders, the mode of hunting was to create a rapid suction force by lifting the massive head and then quickly shutting the mouth again. Lining the wide mouth were many small conical teeth and several longer tusks. In fact Mastodonsaurus' tusks in the lower jaw projected through the end of the plate when the mouth was shut. A basal member of the capitosaurs was the strange Sclerothorax. It is distinguished by it's small size, short broad skull and elongated vertebrae.

Description

A selection of the temnospondyls known as capitosaurs, to scale.

Note this image is no longer accurate and has been revised - www.deviantart.com/artbyjrc/ar…

For much of the Triassic, capitosaurs were a global group that filled the aquatic hunting niche similar to modern crocodiles. Ironically as crocodilians took to the water, around the end of the Triassic, they replaced the amphibians in this role. Mastodonsaurids form the largest family within the Capitosauria, and ranged from relatively small-bodied species to absolute giants. At 6 metres, Mastodonsaurus is the largest known species, and is also one of the largest amphibians ever to exist. All species had similar body shapes with long flat triangular heads, squat bodies, reduced limbs with poor joints, and a short tail. As ambush hunters they probably rarely left the water, preferring to sit and wait for prey to approach them. Along the skull are sensitive grooves which would help the amphibians to detect potential prey. In a similar way to the unrelated giant salamanders, the mode of hunting was to create a rapid suction force by lifting the massive head and then quickly shutting the mouth again. Lining the wide mouth were many small conical teeth and several longer tusks. In fact Mastodonsaurus' tusks in the lower jaw projected through the end of the plate when the mouth was shut. A basal member of the capitosaurs was the strange Sclerothorax. It is distinguished by it's small size, short broad skull and elongated vertebrae.