Zygosaurus is an extinct genus of dissorophid temnospondyl from the Middle-Late Permian of Russia. It was described in 1848 by Eduard Eichwald, making it the first dissorophid to be described and is known from a single species, Zygosaurus lucius.[1] The location of the holotype, and only known specimen, is unknown,[2] and although casts are reposited in several institutions, little is known about this taxon beyond qualitative aspects of the skull (e.g., preorbital length twice as long as postorbital length; skull width greatest at mid-length of orbits).[3] The skull was estimated to be around 20 cm in length, making it one of the largest dissorophids, being only slightly smaller than Kamacops.[2]

Zygosaurus
Temporal range: Middle Permian
Life restoration of Zygosaurus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Temnospondyli
Family: Dissorophidae
Clade: Eucacopinae
Genus: Zygosaurus
Eichwald, 1848
Type species
Zygosaurus lucius
Eichwald, 1848

References

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  1. ^ Eichwald, Eduard (1848). "Uber die Saurier des kupferfhrenden Zechsteins Russlands". Bulletin de la Société Nationale de Moscou (in Russian). 21: 136–204 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ a b Schoch, Rainer R. (2012). "Character distribution and phylogeny of the dissorophid temnospondyls". Fossil Record. 15 (2): 121–137. doi:10.1002/mmng.201200010.
  3. ^ Schoch, Rainer R.; Milner, Andrew R. (2014). Sues, Hans-Dieter (ed.). Handbuch der Paläoherpetologie Part 3A2. Temnospondyli. Stuttgart: Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil. ISBN 9783931516260. OCLC 580976.