Diplocaulus

The Diplocaulus (dip-low-cawl-us) or simply Newt, is one of the Creatures in ARK: Survival Evolved. It lives in swamps getting hunted by any carnivore.

Behavior
Being a common prey item, the Diplocaulus will run at the first sign of danger.

Appearance
The Diplocaulus resembles a large newt with a low-slung and flabby body, slimy skin, and a paddle-like tail for moving through stagnant swamp water. However, the creature's head makes it impossible to mistake for any other creature. Shaped like a boomerang, the amphibian's head has two primary purposes. First, like a hydrofoil, its vanes improve its swimming speed to escape any predator. Second, it has evolved to store air bladders, a trait unseen in its fossil kin. These bladders act as buoyancy manipulators, allowing it to dive deeper by expelling air or move to the surface by filling them up.

KO Strategy
Sneak up on a Diplocaulus and throw a bola on it to keep it from fleeing, then proceed to violently tame it. NOTE: Make sure to kill all enemies around them while taming. Otherwise when it wakes up its going to flee, get swarmed, and die.

Another method, likely preferred given the dangers of the swamps it is found in, is to pick it up out of the water with a flying mount and tame it in a pen or otherwise less hostile area. Care must be taken when trying this as it will start to flee from the player, likely into hostile mobs, so it must also be picked up quickly when spotted while also avoiding hitting the water and getting knocked off the flying mount.

Encountering
This section describes how to react in an encounter with the Diplocaulus.

General
Diplocaulus is extremely skittish and will flee on sight of you. Though not as fast on land than in water, its speed in water is immense.

Strategy
Bola it to stop it in its tracks, or chase it till it gets stuck under a rock. This should keep it stuck, and let you tranquilize it quickly for taming, or quickly shoot it to death if there is an enemy rider.

Weaponry
Anything, from fists to rocket launcher. A pike or Longneck Rifle works best.

Dangers
The Diplocaulus itself does not pose any threats. The only thing to look out for are nearby, , or in the surrounding waters, or an enemy rider mounted on top of it.

Weakness
Diplocaulus is extremely weak. It is threatened by almost everything.

Roles

 * Organic Oxygen Tank/Diving Partner: The Diplocaulus can be used as a portable supply, at the cost of the creature's own . It can only be ridden underwater, but is a fast swimmer that's able to out-speed many oceanic threats. While riding a Diplocaulus your  will be slowly filled, and its own  will deplete. They do not seem to use  otherwise, making it a great diving partner. In mobile version, there seems to be a bug when you dive with Diplocaulus: The  meter of the creature does not appear but will still count down, and when it runs out of  the rider faces a risk of drowning if they can't swim back to the surface in time. Be careful while exploring with the Diplocaulus, as you may leave your frail mount deep down in an ocean filled with a platoon dangerous predators. (Level up in oxygen and/or weight)


 * Trilobite hunter: Diplocaulus have an extremely high damage multiplier against the . With this multiplier, Diplocaulus can usually kill s instantly and harvest the, , , and  they drop with relative ease (Level Melee Damage and Weight).


 * Swimmer: Diplocaulus are rather quick creatures underwater, and their tank qualities also make them unique swimming mounts and partners for deep dives. However, the deep seas are rife with danger, and it is ill advised to confront them with such a creature.


 * Pet: The Diplocaulus is extraordinarily cute. They make adorable noises and have a squat and short stature. This makes them a favorite creature of some paleontologists and a very fun pet to have for aquatic life enthusiasts. Some survivors like to have Diplocaulus in their aquatic bases as companion pets and simply friends. (Level up and happiness!)


 * Aquatic Transport: Although in most ways inferior to the fleeting, a Diplocaulus can transport light goods from water to land safely and quickly. (Level Weight)


 * Aquatic Scout: Due to the Diplocaulus' small size and decent speed, it can make for a great scout similar to the, with the only disadvantage being that it is easier to spot due to the ocean not being their normal habitat.

Notes/Trivia

 * Although the Dossier states they are piscivores, they are in fact carnivores and eat too.
 * Dino Dossier was revealed on 10/02/15 on Steam.
 * Despite being labelled as a "Small amphibian" in the dossier, it is roughly 5.9 meters in game.
 * While Diplocaulus does not require a saddle, it can only be mounted in the water.
 * While mounted, the player will breathe from the Diplocaulus' much greater supply, allowing long diving trips for lower level players, to reach those precious  rocks and  at the bottom of the sea.
 * Diplocaulus is narrow enough to pass through small openings like and  at ground level.  Keep this in mind when building taming boxes to hold them.
 * Diplocaulus regenerate way more when being forcefed, but only while swimming.