On land, there were the amphibian-like temnospondyls and early relatives of mammals called therapsids.

在陆地上，有类似两栖动物的 temnospondyls 和哺乳动物的早期近亲，称为 therapsids。

Gradually, the remaining freshwater and marine temnospondyls found themselves displaced.

渐渐地，剩余的淡水和海洋 temnospondyls 发现自己流离失所。

But things stayed warm and wet year-round near the equator, so temnospondyls still did OK.

但是赤道附近全年都保持温暖和潮湿，所以飞椎龙仍然可以生存。

And it was in this environment where temnospondyls truly thrived.

正是在这种环境中，穿椎龙真正繁衍生息。

By the early Cretaceous, the temnospondyls had vanished from every continent.

到白垩纪早期，temnospondyls 已经从每个大陆上消失了。

Now, despite all these variations among species, temnospondyls did share a few key traits.

现在，尽管物种之间存在所有这些差异，但 temnospondyls 确实具有一些关键特征。

But temnospondyls didn't live on land all of the time.

但 temnospondyls 并不总是生活在陆地上。

And aquatic temnospondyls weren't limited to freshwater.

水生 temnospondyls 并不局限于淡水。

Ocean-dwelling amphibians don't exist today, but fossils of temnospondyls have been found in marine deposits.

今天不存在海洋栖息的两栖动物，但在海洋沉积物中发现了 temnospondyls 的化石。

And these structures leave distinct grooves and pits in the skull, which are also found in some temnospondyls.

这些结构在头骨上留下了明显的凹槽和凹坑，这在一些突椎动物中也有发现。

And some paleontologists think that some or all of the lissamphibians are descended from the dissorophoids, that group of smaller temnospondyls.

一些古生物学家认为， 一些或所有的软体动物都起源于双足动物，即一组较小的突椎动物。

But, did the legacy of the temnospondyls die with it?

但是，temnospondyls 的遗产是否随之消失了？

One lineage of aquatic temnospondyls proliferated in the early Triassic: the Stereospondyls.

在三叠纪早期增殖了一种水生刺椎动物的谱系：立体椎动物。

By the time this catastrophe occurred, most lineages of temnospondyls had already gone extinct, under pressure from the amniotes.

到这场灾难发生时，在羊膜动物的压力下，大多数突椎动物的谱系已经灭绝。

At a time when any animals with legs and backbones were still pretty new, temnospondyls did incredibly well for themselves.

在任何有腿和脊椎的动物还很新鲜的时候，temnospondyls 自己做得非常好。

Yet in the end, two major threats would push the temnospondyls—including the resilient Koolasuchus—to extinction.

然而，最终，两大威胁将迫使穿椎龙——包括适应力强的库拉鳄——走向灭绝。

The biggest species of Eryops was more than two meters long, but some terrestrial temnospondyls were much smaller.

最大的 Eryops 物种长超过两米，但一些陆生的 temnospondyls 要小得多。

Unable to compete with these amniotes, and facing a harsh new climate, terrestrial temnospondyls either vanished outright or returned to the water.

由于无法与这些羊膜动物竞争，并且面临着严酷的新气候， 陆栖突椎动物要么彻底消失， 要么重返水中。

Maybe the temnospondyls gave rise to them, and maybe they didn't.

可能是速椎龙产生了它们，也可能不是。

It belonged to a subgroup of smaller temnospondyls called the dissorophoids, and it had short, stubby legs and … a sail on its back.

它属于较小的突椎动物的一个亚群， 称为双足动物，它有短粗的腿和… … 背上有帆。