DIPLOVERTEBRON

genus of extinct amphibians of North America and Europe known from fossils in Late Carboniferous rocks (from 320 to 286 million years ago). Diplovertebron represents a late surviving form of the anthracosaurs, a group of primitive amphibians that probably included the ancestors of the more advanced reptiles. Diplovertebron and other anthracosaurs are characterized by a distinctively constructed vertebral column and skull pattern and five-toed feet.