Description

Early Permian
Wellington formation
Waurika site, Jefferson County, OK, USA

9mm amphibian claw

Amphibian,

This amphibian claw shows no distinguishing features for a confident identification to genus so we won’t guess.

Amphibians had appeared by the end of the Devonian and they diversified across the Carboniferous, a time of high oxygen content in the atmosphere and vast lowland swamps dominating the land areas.  However, the Early Permian was a time when world climates were trending warmer and drier, favoring plants and animals less dependent on proximity to swampy areas.  As a result, amphibians would become less diverse and restricted to shrinking areas of habitat as the Permian progressed.