{{Short description|Genus of amphibians (fossil)}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = {{fossilrange|Upper Triassic}} | image = Capitosaurus 1.JPG | image_caption = ''Capitosaurus polaris'' skull | taxon = Capitosaurus | authority = Münster, 1836 | type_species = {{extinct}}''Capitosaurus arenaceus'' | type_species_authority = Münster, 1836 }}

'''''Capitosaurus''''' is an extinct [[genus]] of [[temnospondyl]] from the [[Late Triassic]] of Germany. Its [[skull]] was 30&nbsp;cm long, with a total length over 122&nbsp;cm.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Amphibians |url=http://www.angellis.net/Web/PDfiles/amphs.pdf}}</ref> It was one of the first temnospondyl genera to have been erected, with the [[type species]], ''C. arenaceus'', originally described by [[Georg zu Münster|Münster]] in 1836 based on a partial skull from the earliest Upper Triassic of Bavaria, Germany. Numerous other [[species]] were referred to ''Capitosaurus'' before the 1920s, but through much of the 20th century most authors considered the original specimen of ''C. arenaceus'' to be undiagnostic, effectively invalidating the genus and leading to the referral of all species but the type to other genera. However, Rainer Schoch had suggested in his 2008 revision of the [[Capitosauria]] that ''C. arenaceus'' may be a valid taxon, likely closely related to ''[[Cyclotosaurus]]'' and ''[[Kupferzellia]]''.<ref name="Schoch2008">{{cite journal |last=Schoch |first=R.R. |year=2008 |title=The Capitosauria (Amphibia): characters, phylogeny, and stratigraphy |url=http://www.palaeodiversity.org/pdf/01/Palaeodiversity_1_13_189-226.pdf |journal=Palaeodiversity |volume=1 |pages=189–226}}</ref>

[[File:Capitosaurus.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Restoration of ''Capitosaurus'']]

==References== {{Portal|Paleontology}} {{Reflist}}

{{Stereospondyli|S.}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q3825368}}

[[Category:Capitosauria]] [[Category:Triassic temnospondyls of Europe]] [[Category:Fossils of Germany]] [[Category:Fossil taxa described in 1836]]

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