This is a rare mount of an ancient animal called Buettneria -- a six-foot-long relative of frogs, toads, and salamanders. Buettneria was an amphibious predator that lived as much as 300 million years ago. As you can see, it had a large, flat head, with the eyes on top... they looked up. The sharp teeth around the margins of its jaw indicate that Buettneria was a predator. It also had tusk-like teeth on its palate, and its lower jaw dropped down, so its mouth could open wide to grab fish. Buettneria is mounted as if swimming since it probably spent most of its time doing so. It had a big, powerful, swimmer's tail, and very small limbs that weren't used much for land travel. Although Buettneria was certainly capable of traveling on land, this powerful, fast-swimming predator did most of its hunting in the water.

When Buettneria did venture onto land, it moved with its legs sprawled out, like an alligator. Yet although its behavior may have been similar to alligators and crocodiles, they were not closely related.