Description

Early Permian

Wellington Formation, Waurika site

Jefferson County, Oklahoma, USA

Excellent 1.7 inch digit (0.4 inch claw).

Amphibian

Eryops is a genus of amphibian of the Order Temnospondyli and one of the largest amphibians (5-10 feet long) of the Permian Period.  Its well-ossified skeleton and large limbs are indicators that it had a more terrestrial lifestyle than other contemporary and even many Mesozoic amphibians.  In that way it was quite advanced genus for its time.

Temnospondyls survived the end-Permian extinction even as most other amphibians disappeared and survived into the Cretaceous.

The Waurika site yields many isolated bones and teeth of amphibians, reptiles, and synapsids.  It’s very unusual to find toe bones and a claw that fit well together.