Cope, Am. Nat., XVIII, p. 38, 1884.
General form of the body elongate, with triangular skull and short, stout limbs. Snout narrow, orbits large, elongated oval, situated near the middle of the skull. External bones faintly sculptured, sensory canals conspicuous, parietal foramen large. Teeth conical, of unequal size. Presacral vertebræ composed of horseshoe-shaped pleurocentra and hypocentra, the former alone supporting the neural arch. In the caudals the pleurocentra and hypocentra form complete rings, and both elements take part in the support of the neural arch, but the hæmal arch is borne exclusively by the hypocentra. A close abdominal armor of imbricate scales, arranged in a chevron pattern. Caudal vertebræ numerous. Chevrons coössified with the intercentra.
Moodie, Kans. Univ. Sci. Bull., vi. No. 2, p. 355, 1912.
Type: Spondylerpeton spinatum Moodie.
The genus is based on a specimen consisting of 9 imperfect vertebræ, from the caudal region of a relatively large amphibian. The present genus exceeds Diplospondylus from the Gaskohle of Bohemia ([251]) by twice its size and is about two-thirds the size of Cricotus heteroclitus Cope ([98]) from the Permian of Kansas. The vertebræ are twice as high as wide, differing thus from Cricotus, in which the vertebræ are nearly circular. A character which is of great importance is the large size of the intercentrum, which almost equals the pleurocentrum in size. It is similar to the pleurocentrum in shape, except for the attached neurocentrum and chevron on
the latter. The present genus differs from Diplospondylus in the greater length of the intercentrum and pleurocentrum, in the greater size, in the larger proportions of the neurocentrum, and the greater proportionate size of the intercentra.
Spondylerpeton spinatum Moodie.
Moodie, Kans. Univ. Sci. Bull., VI, No. 2, pp. 355-357, pl. 8, figs. 1 and 2; pl. 9, fig. 1, 1912.
Type: Specimen No. 793 ([26]) and obverse, Yale University Museum.