Abstract
A well-preserved vertebral column from the Late Permian of Southern France (Lopingian, La Lieude Formation, Lodève Basin) is described. It is composed of diplospondylous vertebrae and is most comparable with the temnospondyl Tupilakosaurus previously known from the Early Triassic of Greenland and Russia. This new specimen therefore represents the earliest occurrence of a diplospondylous tupilakosaur, and extends the geographic range of the group to Western Europe. It is an aquatic temnospondyl that used the anguilliform undulatory mode of swimming.