Anaschisma

Anaschisma Temporal range: Late Triassic, I O An. La. Carn. Norian Rh.
Skeleton of Anaschisma at the AMNH
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Tetrapoda
Order:	†Temnospondyli
Suborder:	†Stereospondyli
Family:	†Metoposauridae
Genus:	†Anaschisma Branson, 1905
Type species
†Anaschisma browni Branson, 1905
Synonyms
Genus synonymy Borborophagus Branson & Mehl, 1929 Buettneria Case 1922 (preoccupied) Koskinonodon Branson & Mehl, 1929 Species synonymy Anaschisma brachygnatha Branson, 1905 Borborophagus wyomingensis Branson & Mehl, 1929 Buettneria perfecta Case, 1922 Koskinonodon perfectus (Case, 1922)

Anaschisma ("ripped up") is an extinct genus of large temnospondyls. These animals were part of the family called Metoposauridae, which filled the crocodile-like predatory niches in the late Triassic. It had a large skull about 62 centimetres (24 in) long, and possibly reached 3 metres (9.8 ft) long. It was an ambush hunter, snapping up anything small enough to fit in its huge jaws. It was very common during the Late Triassic (Carnian-Norian age) in what is now the American Southwest.