"20, 25 feet long, large head, short legs."

―Matt Anderson^[src]

Home time period	Late Devonian - Early Triassic period
Creature type	Amphibian
Deaths caused	Boy Ray Lennon Moria Lennon Many livestock and other people
Appearances	Episode 4.5

Labyrinthodonts were large amphibians with a typical amphibian body plan.

Contents 1 Facts 2 In Primeval 2.1 Episode 4.5 3 Trivia 4 Errors

Facts

Labyrinthodont is a semi-aquatic carnivorous amphibian. The ones seen at Witchfield Cove have scaly skin, two rows of teeth, and the adult was several metres longer than any known Labyrinthodont. They also have flattish head, small but powerful legs, and a long, serpentine or eel-like body. The adult Labyrinthodont would sometimes attack prey by jumping from bodies of water such as rivers at prey on the banks, but when it was roaming on land it would apparently just attack and chase any prey it came across.

In Primeval

Episode 4.5

Two Labyrinthodonts (a parent and a juvenile) came through an Anomaly into a seaside cave near the village of Witchfield Cove in the present day. As the Lennons' were dumping fuel into the cave through a drain, the Anomaly frequently became too weak for the Labyrinthodonts to return through. Ray Lennon discovered the Labyrinthodonts and locked them in the cave, but occasionally released the adult to kill anyone who came close to discovering the Lennons' fuel-smuggling operation.

Over the years, the adult Labyrinthodont was sighted from whenever it was released, and became notoriously known among Witchfield Cove as "the Witchfield Worm." One night, Ray released the Labyrinthodont to kill a boy who had come to prove the existence of the "Witchfield Worm." The next day, the Labyrinthodont attacked a fisherman by a river, but the fisherman was saved by Matt Anderson and the Labyrinthodont then returned to the river.

Abby Maitland later found the Labyrithodont and chased it to a Haven Holidays caravan park, where it chased two young boys whom Abby saved. Abby hid in a caravan from the Labyrinthodont, and the creature climbed onto the caravan roof, trying to get to Abby inside. Abby drove the caravan, with the Labyrinthodont still on its roof, out of the caravan park; but the creature tried to break inside through the window, causing Abby to crash the caravan.

Meanwhile, back in the cave, the acid left over from the oil being dumped into the cave was injuring the juvenile Labyrinthodont still there. The adult creature heard the juvenile's distress and returned to the cave. There, the creature ate the Lennons; and while Abby distracted the Labyrinthodont, Connor Temple moved the oil away from the Anomaly, allowing it to fully open. The two Labyrinthodonts then returned through to their time.

Trivia

• This is the first amphibian to appear in Primeval.
• Like Kaprosuchus, Smilodon, Gorgonopsid, the Camouflage Beast and the Giant Burrowing Insects, the Labyrinthodont came through an Anomaly before the ARC was founded.
• This is yet another creature to have been seen as a Monster by locals.
• It has killed more than three people because Abby says people (and livestock) have been disappearing for decades.
• According to the Primeval official site, this Labyrinthodont encountered at Witchfield Cove is native to Poland.
• This is Tim Haines' favorite creature in Series 4 and 5.
• The Labyrinthinodont appears in the Primeval: New World teaser trailer.

Errors

• It is stated that Labyrinthodont had highly reduced limbs, but in Episode 4.5, it had powerful legs and could even stand upright for several seconds.
• If this species of Labyrinthodont is a Koolasuchus, then this amphilbian is oversized as Koolasuchus is only 5m long but in the series, it is 8 to 10 meters long.
• The Primeval Website on ITV states that the Labyrinthodont is from Poland; if it is a Koolasuchus, then it would live in Australia, not in Poland, however this should also be used as evidence, perhaps it isn't a Koolasuchus after all. However, it is possible that being an amphibian, Koolasuchus was able to swim to Poland from Australia, but we haven't found fossils there yet.
• The Labyrinthodont should have smooth skin, not thick scales, covering it´s body.
• The Labyrinthodont has upper and lower teeth in the series, but in real life they were smaller.
• The labyrinthodont in the show looks like a cross between a crocodile and a worm, but in real life it was more like a salamander.
• The Labyrinthodont is shown to be able to live very well out of the water, but it needed to wet its skin from time to time.
• It is shown to have the ability to climb up things like trailers, but in the reality it was strictly firmed to the ground.

Series 4 Main Creatures
Episode 4.1: Dracorex • Spinosaurus • Raptor Episode 4.2: Kaprosuchus • Coelurosauravus (Rex) • Columbian Mammoth Episode 4.3: Tree Creeper • Coelurosauravus (Rex) Episode 4.4: Therocephalian • Coelurosauravus (Rex) • Columbian Mammoth Episode 4.5: Labyrinthodont Episode 4.6: Hyaenodon Episode 4.7: Terror Bird

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