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