Cacops woehri

Cacops, a genus of dissorophid temnospondyls, is one of the most distinctive Paleozoic amphibians that diversified in the equatorial region of Pangea during the Kungurian stage of the early Permian. Dissorophids were a group of fully terrestrial, often heavily armored faunivores. This, along with their relatively large size and geographical range suggest that they were able to coexist with amniotes as predators during the early Permian. Dissorophidae has four distinct clades differentiated largely on the morphology of the osteoderms, the Eucacopinae, the Dissorophinae, the Aspidosaurinae, and the Platyhystricinae. Cacops is one of the few olsoniforms whose ontogeny is beginning to surface. Cacops fossils were almost exclusively known from the Cacops Bone Bed of the Lower Permian Arroyo Formation of Texas for much of the 20th century. New material collected from the Dolese Brothers Quarry, near Richards Spur, Oklahoma in the past few decades has been recovered, painting a clearer picture of what the animal looked and acted like.

American paleontologist Samuel W. Williston used the details of the species Cacops aspidephorus to first describe its features. However, because of the poor preservation of specimens collected from the Cacops Bone Bed in Texas, other researchers who collected specimens from other localities have described many of Cacops’ features with more certainty. Features that distinguish Cacops from other dissorophids include a large dorsal process of the quadrate and a shortened posterior skull.

Cacops aspidephorus is the most famous dissorophid, in part due to a majority of its skeleton having been known for over a century. Over 50 specimens have been found in the Cacops Bone Bed in Baylor County, Texas, which is now flooded by the dammed Lake Kemp. However, many of the specimens are covered in calcite, which penetrates the bone tissue, resulting in poor preservation. "Trematopsis seltini" from the Vale Formation of Texas was originally described as a trematopid by Olson but was later.
 * Ontogeny Partial growth series of both Cacops morrisi and Cacops woehri are known. Overall changes to the shape of the skull are minimal, indicating that the shallower skull of C. woehri is a valid feature for differentiating between the taxa throughout ontogeny. Of the two, the ontogeny
 * Predation The skull of Cacops has several features associated with predatory behavior. In particular, transverse flanges on the pterygoid that extend below the level of the marginal tooth row have been interpreted to be adaptive for capturing and holding struggling prey; this feature is al
 * Locomotion The locomotion of Cacops aspidephorus has been explored through two studies by David Dilkes. Two series of osteoderms of the presacral vertebral column affect the biomechanics of the axial skeleton. Cacops have an internal series, which consist of an osteoderm fused to the distal.