Zygosaurus

Zygosaurus
Temporal range: Middle Permian
Life restoration of Zygosaurus
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Temnospondyli
Family: Dissorophidae
Clade: Eucacopinae
Genus: Zygosaurus
Eichwald, 1848
Type species
Zygosaurus lucius
Eichwald, 1848

Zygosaurus is an extinct genus of dissorophid temnospondyl from the Middle-Late Permian of Russia. It was described in 1848 by Eduard Eichwald, making it the first dissorophid to be described and is known from a single species, Zygosaurus lucius. The location of the holotype, and only known specimen, is unknown, and although casts are reposited in several institutions, little is known about this taxon beyond qualitative aspects of the skull (e.g., preorbital length twice as long as postorbital length; skull width greatest at mid-length of orbits). The skull was estimated to be around 20 cm in length, making it one of the largest dissorophids, being only slightly smaller than Kamacops.