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Diplocaulus is by far the largest and best-known of the lepospondyls, characterized by a distinctive boomerang-shaped skull. Remains attributed to Diplocaulus have been found from the Late Permian of Morocco and represent the youngest-known occurrence of a lepospondyl.
The Diplocaulidae ("double cauls") is an extinct family of "nectridean" tetrapodomorphs that arose during the Late Carboniferous and died out in the Late Permian. [1] They are distinguished by the presence of strange, horn-like protrusions jutting out from the rear of their skulls; in some genera said protrusions gave their heads an almost boomerang-like outline.
Massive skull roof, with openings only for the nostrils, eyes and a parietal eye, similar to the structure of the "anapsid" reptiles. With the exception of the later more reptile-like forms, the skull was rather flat and strongly ornamented with presumably tough dermal covering, accounting for an older term for the group: "Stegocephalia".
A trace fossil known as Hermundurichnus fornicatus of a tetrapod resting on a lake bed may have been attributed to Diplocaulus or an animal like it. This trace indicates that the underside of nectrideans was covered in small, diamond-shaped scales and that the "horns" of the skull were connected with the body by flaps of skin. [5]
Lepospondyli is a diverse taxon of early tetrapods.With the exception of one late-surviving lepospondyl from the Late Permian of Morocco (Diplocaulus minimus), [4] lepospondyls lived from the Visean stage of the Early Carboniferous to the Early Permian and were geographically restricted to what is now Europe and North America.
Worm burrows and ostracods are also very common. Tetrapod remains include Dimetrodon teeth, unusually small "Lysorophus" (Brachydectes) vertebrae, skull fragments from small Diplocaulus and Trimerorhachis, a few Eryops components, and fragments from various microsaurs, possibly referable to Pantylus, Microbrachis, and/or Pelodosotis. Most of ...
The location of the eyes and nostrils on the surface of the skull suggest that this animal may have quietly laid on the bottom of pools or rivers waiting for food to get close. Diplocaulus probably fed on crustaceans, insects, and possibly carrion.'
Its tail was remarkably long taking up two thirds of the animal's total length, and was laterally flattened, presumably to aid in swimming. Its skull was round and short, especially when compared to its Permian relative, Diplocaulus. Its hind legs had five toes, and were longer than the forelimbs, which had only four toes. [10]