claim: a photograph shows a real hammerhead salamander.
question: is this a photograph of a ‘hammerhead salamander’?
origin: in 2016, photographs that purportedly showed a “hammerhead salamander” (also known as the “boomerang-head”, or diplocaulus) started circulating on social media:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  although the diplocaulus was indeed a real animal that lived during the permian period, the amphibian has not been present on earth for about a few hundred million years. therefore, it is highly unlikely that a real, living diplocaulus was captured on camera.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  the photograph displayed above may appear to belie the fact that the diplocaulus has long been extinct, but the image actually depicts a model of a diplocaulus created by artist goro furuta. a message posted on the artist’s facebook page identified the animal as a model and not a living creature:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  before i knew it, diplocaulus was shared more than 3000 times. oh, incidentally, this is a model so…. lol.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  this isn’t the first time that a model of a diplocaulus has been mistaken for the real thing. in 2004, another photograph of a purported hammerhead salamander in a bucket circulated on the internet:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  that image also turned out to be a hoax.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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comment: the diplocaulus was indeed a real animal that lived during the permian period 250 million years ago.
summary: in 2016, photographs that purportedly showed a “hammerhead salamander” started circulating on social media. although the diplocaulus was indeed a real animal that lived during the permian period, the amphibian has not been present on earth for about a few hundred million years. a message on the artist’s facebook page identified the animal as a model and not a living creature.