3 ‘Labyrinthodon pachygnathus’ (entering 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. Mastodonsaurus belongs to a group of giant four-legged animals that are thought to be primitive amphibians. They lived 242–235 million years ago during the 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 a giant frog-like creatures – the species ‘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.

Model by HE Geospatial Survey Team ©Historic England