Big Red Metoposaur (Giant Salamander) Skull Replica

Big Red Metoposaur Skull (cast)

Metoposaurus butteneria
Giant salamander

Triassic group
Crosby County, Texas
Skull pallet and teeth
18” x 16” x 2 1/2” on stand
8 feet in length alive
Recovered/restored by Joe Taylor

Price: $495 on stand

    This skull was a “cow find.”  It was upside down and broken into dozens of small pieces, when I first saw it.  I simply scooped up the bone and red clay matrix and dumped it into a bag.  The difficulty of restoring these skulls when they have been crushed is that the surface is a maze of thin ridges of pea-sized oval depressions.  There are three or four slightly different shapes to the depressions. There are also sutures defining all the 20 or so bones of the skull.  The skulls are very flat.  One this size is, on average, only about ¼ inch thick over much of the skull, but is thicker around the sides and back of the skull.  The tooth row starts behind the eyes which, like the nostrils, are very close to the front of the head,  and runs the length of the skull.

At the eyes, the teeth split in to two rows.  The inner row cuts across under the roof of the mouth with a pod of large canines grouped right in front of the  eye sockets.  The teeth, which are numerous (about 100 or more) fall out (or off) shortly after death, as they are not socketed but sort of stuck to the bone surface.  The teeth are sharp and are presumed to have been used to catch fish such as seradotus (a fish in these Blanco red beds known only by a triangular-shared tooth which is nothing more than a half dozen sharp ridges.)

    The nose area of the salamander skulls, being the thinnest part, is often missing, and in this one is mostly restored.  The back of the head and braincase, however, are virtually complete.  Since this skull was found separated from its body, it was mostly likely dead when these beds were covered by catastrophic Flood waters and moving mud.

Or call to order: (806)675-7777

Price: $495 on stand

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