What is Temnospondyl?
{{Taxobox | name = Temnospondyls | fossil range = | image = Eryops megacephalus skeleton front.JPG | image_caption = ''[[Eryops]]'', a large temnospondyl <br/>from the early [[Permian]]. <br/>[[National Museum of Natural History]], [[Washington DC]] | image_width = 250px | regnum = [[Animalia]] | phylum = [[Chordata]] | superclassis = [[Tetrapoda]] | unranked classis = [[Batrachomorpha]] | ordo = Temnospondyli}} '''Temnospondyls''' are an [[order (biology)|order]] of small to giant [[batrachomorpha|batrachomorph]] [[tetrapod]]s. They lived worldwide from the [[Carboniferous]] to the [[Triassic]]. A few [[species]] continued into the [[Lower Cretaceous]]. The Temnospondyls are similar or identical to the [[Labyrinthodont]]s minus the [[Lepospondyl]]s. It is probably an [[evolutionary grade]], not [[monophyletic]]. It is convenient to use, because all these early amphibia were so different from present-day amphibia.<ref name=Milner>Milner, Andrew 1990. the radiations of temnospondyl amphibians. In Taylor P.D. & Larwood G.P. (eds) ''Major evolutionary radiations''. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-857718-4}}</ref><ref name=rise>Carroll, Robert 2009. ''The rise of amphibians: 360 million years of evolution''. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press. {{ISBN|0-8018-9140-X}}</ref><sup>p169</sup> Many in the early [[Permian]] looked more like [[reptile]]s because they were [[adapted]] to life in a drier climate. Nevertheless, they were amphibians, and many larval stages have been found. They are a large group of some 40 [[family (biology)|families]] and 160 [[genera]].<ref name=Milner/><sup>p322</sup> [[Fossil]]s have been found on every continent. Their evolutionary history spans 210 million years. During this time, they [[adapted]] to a wide range of [[habitat]]s including fresh water, [[terrestrial]], and even [[coast]]al [[Marine biology|marine]] [[environment]]s. Fossils are known from the [[larva]]l stage, [[metamorphosis]], and maturity.<ref name=rise/><sup>p184</sup> Most temnospondyls were semiaquatic, altho