3.4" Triassic Amphibian (Metoposaurus) Skull Scute - Arizona

Triassic Amphibian (Metoposaurus) Skull Scute - Arizona #284235

This is a beautiful, 3.4" wide skull scute section from Metoposaurus, collected from a private ranch, located on the Chinle Formation of northeast Arizona. The Chinle Formation is Upper Triassic in age, meaning this fossil is approximately 220 million years old. The preservation of the scute is fantastic.

Comes with a riker mount display case.

There are two repaired cracks through the scute, though neither crack required gap fill restoration.

An artists reconstruction of what a Metoposaur may have looked like.

Metoposaurids were the ginormous ancestors of modern amphibians that managed to survive the Permian-Triassic extinction. These salamander-like creatures approached five feet in length on average, though they may have grown up to nine feet long. These amphibians are characterized by their broad, flat skulls, long limbs and paddle-like tails. Metoposaurs probably competed at the same feeding level with Phytosaurs, having very similar life styles and feeding strategies. Imagine a six-foot salamander that behaves like a crocodile, and you have a mostly accurate picture of Metoposaurids.