Unlike modern amphibians , many temnospondyls are covered in small , closely packed scales . The undersides of most temnospondyls are covered in rows of large ventral plates . During early stages of development , they first have only small , rounded scales . Fossils show , as the animals grew , the scales on the undersides of their bodies developed into large , wide ventral plates . The plates overlap each other in a way that allows a wide range of flexibility . Later semiaquatic temnospondyls , such as trematosaurs and capitosaurs , have no evidence of scales . They may have lost scales to make movement easier under water or to allow cutaneous respiration , the absorption of oxygen through the skin .