page_title: Eryops
section_title: Discovery and species
hierarchical_section_title: Eryops / Discovery and species
caption_attribution_description: Svenska: Avgjutning av fossilt huvud av jätteamfibien Eryops megacephalus på Göteborgs Naturhistoriska Museum, Göteborg, Västra Götalands län, Sverige.
context_page_description: Eryops meaning "drawn-out face" because most of its skull was in front of its eyes is a genus of extinct, amphibious temnospondyls. It contains the single species Eryops megacephalus, the fossils of which are found mainly in early Permian rocks of the Texas Red Beds, located in Archer County, Texas. Fossils have also been found in late Carboniferous period rocks from New Mexico. Several complete skeletons of Eryops have been found in lower Permian rocks, but skull bones and teeth are its most common fossils.
context_section_description: Eryops is currently thought to contain only one species, E. megacephalus, which means "large-headed Eryops". E. megacephalus fossils have been found only in rocks dated to the early Permian period (Sakmarian age, about 295 million years ago) in the southwestern United States, primarily in the Admiral Formation of the Texas Red Beds. During the mid-20th century, some older fossils were classified as a second species of Eryops, E. avinoffi. This species, known from Carboniferous period fossil found in Pennsylvania, had originally been classified in the genus Glaukerpeton. Beginning in the late 1950s, some scientists concluded that Glaukerpeton was too similar to Eyrops to deserve its own genus. However, later studies supported the original classification of Glaukerpeton, finding that it was more primitive than Eryops and some other early temnospondyls. Supposed Eryops fossils also found in older Pennsylvanian epoch rocks of the Conemaugh Group in West Virginia also turned out to be remains of Glaukerpeton. In 2005, a skull clearly belonging to Eryops was found in upper Pennsylvanian epoch rocks of the El Cobre Canyon Formation in New Mexico, representing the oldest known specimen.
caption: Cast of the skull
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