What was claimed
A picture claims to show a ‘hammerhead salamander’.
Our verdict
The picture shows a model of a dipocaulus, sometimes called a hammerhead salamander, which is extinct.
This picture shows a model of an extinct amphibian
30 September 2019
A picture shared over 17,000 times on Facebook claims to show a ‘Hammerhead Salamander’.
The picture is not of a living animal. It shows a model of a diplocaulus (sometimes called hammerhead salamanders). These were amphibians which lived during the Permian period, between 251 and 299 million years ago.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as true as the post does show a model of a diplocaulus, and does not explicitly claim that it’s a live creature.