1 ‘Labyrinthodon pachygnathus’ (leaving water)3D Model
One of two models of this species. The genus Labyrinthodon is now known scientifically as Mastodonsaurus (‘breast-toothed lizard’). The 19th-century anatomist Richard Owen coined ‘Labyrinthodon’ (‘maze-toothed’) aiming to replace Mastodonsaurus with a name he thought better suited the animal but this is no longer formally recognised. Mastodonsaurs are a group of giant four-legged animals, thought to be primitive amphibians from 242–235 million years ago (Triassic Period).
The Crystal Palace labyrinthodonts are chimaeras based on several unrelated fossils so many details are wrong by current understanding. Owen envisaged these as giant frog-like creatures – ‘pachygnathus’ (‘thick-jawed) with warty skin and the larger ‘salamandroides’ with smooth skin. Today they are thought to be more like giant salamanders than frogs, with well-developed tails, absent from the sculptures. This model had footprints created next to it, now missing, to indicate behaviour.
Model by HE Geospatial Survey Team ©Historic England
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