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, once tamed it can share its Oxygen with its rider or any ally player.
This section is intended to be an exact copy of what the survivor Helena Walker, the author of the dossiers, has written. There may be some discrepancies between this text and the in-game creature.
“
Species
Diplocaulus natatorinutrix
Time
Permian
Diet
Piscivore
Temperament
Skittish
Wild
Presiding almost solely within the Island's swamps, Diplocaulus natatorinutrix is a small amphibian that primarily eats minor fish. It rounds out what I consider to be the middle-bottom of the ecosystem, feeding on the tinier non-insect creatures of the Island while itself being a common snack for the larger carnivores.
Because so many creatures prey on it, Diplocaulus has become very skittish and often flees at the first sign of trouble. It uses its amphibious nature to escape into whichever environment its predator isn't native to. Diplocaulus' unique capability to retain vast quantities of oxygen allows it to effectively remain submerged for hours at a time, usually outlasting even other amphibious creatures that might otherwise prey upon it.
Domesticated
There are only a few uses for tamed Diplocaulus. It is primarily kept for the (rather disgusting) practice of employing a Diplocaulus as an oxygen bag. Diplocaulus stores air in the bladders of its head, and divers can suck from these bladders to take deep breaths while submerged, supporting long-term underwater exploration without the use of external gear.
Surprisingly, Diplocaulus is also extremely efficient when it comes to hunting Trilobites.
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.
Color Scheme and Regions
Region 0:Body
Natural colors:
8
21
23
24
25
26
28
30
32
33
36
42
43
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
53
64
66
74
75
76
77
95
96
98
100
Region 1:Fins
Natural colors:
19
21
25
28
30
42
43
44
45
46
48
49
50
51
53
58
59
67
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
83
84
85
88
91
93
94
95
99
100
Region 2:Unused
This region does not show on the body.
Region 3:Unused
This region does not show on the body.
Region 4:Body Highlights
Natural colors:
8
21
22
23
24
25
26
28
29
30
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
56
57
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
77
78
80
81
82
96
97
98
99
Region 5:Underbelly
Natural colors:
8
21
23
24
25
26
28
30
32
33
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
53
64
66
74
75
76
77
78
95
96
98
99
100
This section displays the Diplocaulus's natural colors and regions. For demonstration, the regions below are colored red over an albino Diplocaulus. The colored squares shown underneath each region's description are the colors that the Diplocaulus will randomly spawn with to provide an overall range of its natural color scheme. Hover your cursor over a color to display its name and ID.
This information can be used to alter the Diplocaulus's regions by entering cheat SetTargetDinoColor <ColorRegion> <ColorID> in the cheat console. For instance, cheat SetTargetDinoColor 0 6 would color the Diplocaulus's "body" magenta.
Type in values of a wild creature to see on which stats it's emphasized. Green values on a high-level creature are very good for breeding. If you have already tamed your creature you can try to recover the breeding stats with an external tool.[1]
Diplocaulus
The stat-calculator does not work in the mobile-view, see here for alternatives: Apps
Note that after the creature is tamed it gets bonuses on some stats depending on the taming effectiveness. This makes it hard to retrieve the levels on a tamed creature, so this tool is only for wild ones, but gives a first impression, how well the stats are distributed.
Torpidity-depletion: 1.04 / s, Time until all torpidity is depleted: 00:35:12
Note that the values are for optimal cases, always bring extra supplies!
For a level-dependent count of resources needed, try an external taming calculator.
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.
The Diplocaulus itself does not pose any threats. The only thing to look out for are nearby Piranha, Sarcosuchus, or Kaprosuchus in the surrounding waters, or an enemy rider mounted on top of it.
Weakness
Diplocaulus is extremely weak. It is threatened by almost everything.
Utility
Roles
Organic Oxygen Tank/Diving Partner: The Diplocaulus can be used as a portable Oxygen supply, at the cost of the creature's own Oxygen. 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 Oxygen will be slowly filled, and its own Oxygen will deplete. They do not seem to use Oxygen otherwise, making it a great diving partner. 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 Oxygen and Weight)
Primitive Plus Diver: On Primitive Plus the SCUBA Tank is not obtainable, so the Diplocaulus is one of the few options that the players has on this mod to explore the ocean.
Beginner Server Diver: On Official Beginner Servers the players can only reach level 44, so they cannot unlock the SCUBA Tank or loot it from yellow or superior Supply Crate, making the Diplocaulus one of the few ways to keep breathing underwater.
Trilobite hunter: Diplocaulus have an extremely high damage multiplier against the Trilobite. With this multiplier, Diplocaulus can usually kill Trilobites instantly and harvest the Raw Meat, Chitin, Oil, and Silica Pearls they drop with relative ease (Level Melee Damage and Weight).
Swimmer: Diplocaulus are rather quick creatures underwater, and their Oxygen 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 Sarco , 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 Ichthyosaurus, with the only disadvantage being that it is easier to spot due to the ocean not being their normal habitat.
Collectibles
Notes/Trivia
For information pertaining specifically to the real-world Diplocaulus, see the relevant Wikipedia article.
Although the Dossier states they are piscivores, they are in fact carnivores and eat Raw Meat too.
Dino Dossier was revealed on 10/02/15 on Steam.[2]
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 Oxygen supply, allowing long diving trips for lower level players, to reach those precious Oil rocks and Silica Pearls at the bottom of the sea.
Diplocaulus is narrow enough to pass through small openings like Stone Windowframe and Stone Doorframe at ground level. Keep this in mind when building taming boxes to hold them.
Diplocaulus regenerate way more Health when being forcefed Meat, but only while swimming.
Yes 
Region 0:
Region 1:
Region 4:
Region 5:
Diplodocus
Aberrant Megalosaurus
Argentavis
Blood Crystal Wyvern
Griffin
Kaprosuchus
Karkinos
Mammoth
Pteranodon
Quetzal
Tapejara
Tropeognathus
Tusoteuthis
Oxygen with its rider or any ally player.
ARK: Survival Evolved on the 21st of October, 2016.
Aberrant Diplocaulus is the Aberrant variant of Diplocaulus found in Aberration. It is identical to the normal specie except for its glowing robe. It is tameable and is not 
Radiation immune.
Health
Stamina
Oxygen
Food
Weight
Melee Damage
Movement Speed
Torpidity
, 
, 
) on it.
Leeches unless it attack them first.
Level 1
Simple Kibble
Raw Mutton
Cooked Lamb Chop
Raw Prime Meat
Cooked Prime Meat
Raw Prime Fish Meat
Raw Meat
Cooked Prime Fish Meat
Cooked Meat
Raw Fish Meat
Cooked Fish Meat
× 22; 
× 9; 
× 3; 
× 2; 
× 1; 
× 1
Simple Kibble:
1 × 
Cooked Fish Meat, 1 × 
Small Egg, 5 × 
Fiber, 5 × 
Mejoberry, 2 × 
Rockarrot, 1 × 
Water
Piranha, 
Sarcosuchus, or 
Primitive Plus the 
SCUBA Tank is not obtainable, so the Diplocaulus is one of the few options that the players has on this mod to explore the ocean.
Supply Crate, making the Diplocaulus one of the few ways to keep breathing underwater.
Trilobite. With this multiplier, Diplocaulus can usually kill 
Raw Meat, 
Chitin, 
Oil, and 
Silica Pearls they drop with relative ease (Level Melee Damage and Weight).
Ichthyosaurus, with the only disadvantage being that it is easier to spot due to the ocean not being their normal habitat.
Stone Windowframe and 
Stone Doorframe at ground level. Keep this in mind when building taming boxes to hold them.
Health when being forcefed 
