Paleontologists Excited By Rare Eryops Discovery In Texas

ARCHER COUNTY, Texas - Heavy rains at the Permian Quarry helped uncover the ancient remains of a large-headed, semi-aquatic, predatory, rare amphibian that lived over 280 million years ago during the Permian period.

Paleontologist Andre LuJan found a nearly complete skull belonging to the Eryops megacephalus.

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What is an Eryops megacephalus?

Eryops were ancient amphibians with enormous mouths full of curved teeth! Spooky, huh? To get a better idea of what they look like, watch this 57-second video of what they are believed to have looked like. They look like gigantic frog-lizards! Wild!

Check them out below!

Discovery Details

Finding a nearly complete skull belonging to an Eryops is quite extraordinary, mainly because the thinnest of their skulls normally causes the fossils to collapse under pressure. A nearly completely intact specimen, with only minor damage, has the scientific community very excited. It's not so much that the species is rare. It's a well-known animal. It's just rare to find it preserved so nicely. Very cool.

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Where Can You See The Eryops?

The fossil is going to be transported to the Texas Through Time Museum. It will be fully cleaned and restored, which usually takes about a year. As soon as it's ready, it will be 3D scanned, and researchers and museums worldwide will be able to enjoy replicas of the amphibian.

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