Location: France

Weight: 2.8 Ounces 

Dimensions: 5.4 Inches Long, 4.1 Inches Wide, 0.3 Inches Thick

Branchiosaurus Dimensions: 2.6 Inches Long, 0.4 Inches Wide

305.6 to 298.9 million years ago

The item pictured is the one you will receive.

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Branchiosaurus Petrolei is an extinct genus of small, prehistoric temnospondyl amphibians that lived during the late Pennsylvanian and early Permian. These amphibians were characterized by their small size, well-preserved traces of external gills, and partially ossified skeletons. Historical research has shown that many specimens once classified in this genus were actually larval or paedomorphic stages of larger amphibians, such as Eryops.

While Branchiosaurus fossils are best known from central European strata, particularly the Rotliegend formations of Germany’s Saar-Palatinate region, including Odernheim and the Niederkirchen Beds, historical paleontological literature and European fossil collections have occasionally referenced similar taxonomic groups or related dissorophoid larvae in neighboring regions, including France. European fossil markets and academic exchanges often feature Branchiosaurus petrolei specimens from German lagerstätten, such as the Jeckenbach Formation, though analogous tetrapod micro-vertebrate assemblages occur in similar Permian-aged lacustrine basin deposits across Western Europe.

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