Cacops
Encyclopedia
Cacops is a genus
of dissorophid
temnospondyl that is known from the Early Permian of the central United States.
It was about 40 centimetres (15.7 in) long and well adapted to a terrestrial lifestyle, with a heavily built skull, strong legs, a short tail, and a row of armor plates along its back. Compared to other dissorophids, it has an enormous otic notch
in the back of the skull enclosed with a bony bar, indicating a large eardrum
. Edwin Colbert suggests that perhaps it was a nocturnal animal like modern frog
s. Cacops was first named by American paleontoligist Samuel Wendell Williston
with the description of the type species
C. aspidephorus from Texas in 1910. A second species, C. morrisi, was named from Oklahoma in 2009.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of dissorophid
Dissorophidae
Dissorophidae is an extinct family of medium-sized, temnospondyl amphibians that flourished during the Late Pennsylvanian and early Permian periods in what is now North America and Europe...
temnospondyl that is known from the Early Permian of the central United States.
Otic notch
Otic notches are invagination in the posterior margin of the skull roof, one behind each orbit. Such notches are found in labyrinthodonts and some of their immediate ancestors, but not their reptilian descendants...
in the back of the skull enclosed with a bony bar, indicating a large eardrum
Eardrum
The eardrum, or tympanic membrane, is a thin membrane that separates the external ear from the middle ear in humans and other tetrapods. Its function is to transmit sound from the air to the ossicles inside the middle ear. The malleus bone bridges the gap between the eardrum and the other ossicles...
. Edwin Colbert suggests that perhaps it was a nocturnal animal like modern frog
Frog
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...
s. Cacops was first named by American paleontoligist Samuel Wendell Williston
Samuel Wendell Williston
Samuel Wendell Williston was an American educator and paleontologist who was the first to propose that birds developed flight cursorially , rather than arboreally . He was also an entomologist, specialising in Diptera.-Early life:Williston was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Samuel Williston and...
with the description of the type species
Type species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
C. aspidephorus from Texas in 1910. A second species, C. morrisi, was named from Oklahoma in 2009.