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Rhynchonkos fossil map

Where fossils of Rhynchonkos have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 275 million years ago and on today’s map.

Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 275 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →

Rhynchonkos
Image: Smokeybjb, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
GroupEarly tetrapods & amphibians
Lived283.3–274.4 million years ago (Kungurian)
PeriodsPermian
FamilyGoniorhynchidae
Named bySchulze and Foreman 1981
Fossil records1 occurrences at 1 locations (PBDB)
Found inUnited States
Rock formationsHennessey

About Rhynchonkos

Rhynchonkos is an extinct genus of rhynchonkid microsaur. Originally known as Goniorhynchus, it was renamed in 1981 because the name had already been given to another genus; the family, likewise, was originally named Goniorhynchidae but renamed in 1988. The type and only known species is R. stovalli, found from the Early Permian Fairmont Shale in Cleveland County, Oklahoma. Rhynchonkos shares many similarities with Eocaecilia, an early caecilian from the Early Jurassic of Arizona. Similarities between Rhynchonkos and Eocaecilia have been taken as evidence that caecilians are descendants of microsaurs. However, such a relationship is no longer widely accepted.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Rhynchonkos (revision 1314884260), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q2562555.

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