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COCHLEOSAURUS
(cok-lee-oh-sore-us)
meaning: "Ear lizard"
Cochleosaurus
Named By: Fritsch in 1885
Time Period: Moscovian 310 Ma
Location: Czech Republic, Nyrany. Canada, Nova Scotia
Size: Up to 1.6 meters long
Diet: unavailable
Fossil(s): Around 50 known specimens
Classification: | Chordata | Amphibia | Temnospondyli | Edopoidea | Cochleosauridae |
About

Cochleosaurus ('spoon lizard') is a name of a tetrapod belonging to Temnospondyli, which lived during the late Carboniferous period (Moscovian, about 310 millions years ago). The great abundance of its remains (about 50 specimens) have been found in the Czech Republic, near Nyrany in Central Europe and in Nova Scotia in North America. It was a creature of medium size, measuring 120-160 centimeters. It is believed that Cochleosaurus was a semi-aquatic ambush predator, hunting like modern crocodiles. Czech paleontologist Antonin Fritsch 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").

Read more about Cochleosaurus at Wikipedia
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