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Edaphosaurus
 
 
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Edaphosaurus (Greek: earth lizard; from edaphos/edaf??, "ground"; and sauros/sa????, "lizard") was a primitive herbivorous
Herbivore

Herbivory is a form of predation in which an organism, known as an herbivore, heterotrophs principally autotrophs such as plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria....
 pelycosaur
Pelycosaur

The pelycosaurs were primitive Late Paleozoic synapsid amniotes. Some species were quite large and could grow up to 3 meters or more, although most species were much smaller....
. Along with the Diadectidae
Diadectidae

Diadectidae are a family of large reptile-like tetrapods that lived in Euramerica during the Carboniferous and Cisuralian periods. They are the very first herbivore tetrapods to appear, and also the first fully terrestrial animals to attain large size....
, Edaphosaurus is one of the earliest known plant-eating tetrapods (land-living vertebrates). It had a remarkably small, short and shallow skull, a wide body and thick tail. On its back is a sail, different in shape to that of its contemporary Dimetrodon
Dimetrodon

Dimetrodon was a predatory synapsid genus that flourished during the Permian Period , living between 280?265 million years ago. It was more closely related to mammals than to true reptiles such as lizards....
, the vertebral spines being shorter and heavier and bearing numerous small cross bars.

The earliest known species are known from fragmentary remains of small animals from late Carboniferous
Carboniferous

The Carboniferous is a geologic period that extends from the end of the Devonian period, about 359.2 ? 2.5 annum , to the beginning of the Permian period, about 299.0 ? 0.8 Ma ...
.






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Edaphosaurus (Greek: earth lizard; from edaphos/edaf??, "ground"; and sauros/sa????, "lizard") was a primitive herbivorous
Herbivore

Herbivory is a form of predation in which an organism, known as an herbivore, heterotrophs principally autotrophs such as plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria....
 pelycosaur
Pelycosaur

The pelycosaurs were primitive Late Paleozoic synapsid amniotes. Some species were quite large and could grow up to 3 meters or more, although most species were much smaller....
. Along with the Diadectidae
Diadectidae

Diadectidae are a family of large reptile-like tetrapods that lived in Euramerica during the Carboniferous and Cisuralian periods. They are the very first herbivore tetrapods to appear, and also the first fully terrestrial animals to attain large size....
, Edaphosaurus is one of the earliest known plant-eating tetrapods (land-living vertebrates). It had a remarkably small, short and shallow skull, a wide body and thick tail. On its back is a sail, different in shape to that of its contemporary Dimetrodon
Dimetrodon

Dimetrodon was a predatory synapsid genus that flourished during the Permian Period , living between 280?265 million years ago. It was more closely related to mammals than to true reptiles such as lizards....
, the vertebral spines being shorter and heavier and bearing numerous small cross bars.

The earliest known species are known from fragmentary remains of small animals from late Carboniferous
Carboniferous

The Carboniferous is a geologic period that extends from the end of the Devonian period, about 359.2 ? 2.5 annum , to the beginning of the Permian period, about 299.0 ? 0.8 Ma ...
. Successive species increased in size during the early Permian
Permian

The PermianThe term "Permian" was introduced into geology in 1841 by Sir Roderick Murchison, president of the Geological Society of London, who identified typical strata in extensive Russian explorations undertaken with Edouard de Verneuil; Murchison asserted in 1841 that he named his "Permian system" after the ancient kingdom...
 period, until they attained about 3.2 metres in length, as represented by the species Edaphosaurus cruciger and Edaphosaurus pogonias. These large species are distinguished by the cervical and anterior thoracic neural spines bearing large club-like sidebars.

Edaphosaurus pogonias is also the type species
Type species

In taxonomy, a type species is the species that originally defined a genus . It is an individual specimen that fixes the name of a genus . Two different definitions are used interchangeably, in a general term and a botanical term....
, a large early Permian form whose fossils are known from the Permian red beds
Red beds

The term red beds usually refers to stratum of reddish-colored sedimentary rocks such as sandstone, siltstone or shale that were deposited in hot climates under oxidation conditions....
 of Texas
Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
. This genus is also known from the Czech Republic
Czech Republic

The Czech Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country borders Poland to the northeast, Germany to the west, Austria to the south and Slovakia to the east....
 (Nýrany
Nýrany

N?rany is a town in the Plzen Region of the Czech Republic. It lies to the West from the region capital of Plzen.N?rany is also the seat of the Municipality with Extended Competence....
 near Plzen and Zbýšov near Brno
Brno

Brno is the second-largest city in the Czech Republic. It was founded in 1243, although the area had been settled since the 5th century. Today Brno has 403,304 inhabitants and is the seat of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic, Supreme Court, Supreme Administrative Court, Supreme Prosecutor's Office and Ombudsman....
). However it is not known for certain if all these species attributed to this genus actually belong there. The name Naosaurus claviger is given to an earlier smaller species that is usually included under Edaphosaurus.

In popular culture

  • Edaphosaurus was shown in the Walking with Monsters
    Walking with Monsters

    Walking with Monsters is a three-part British documentary film series about life in the Paleozoic, bringing to life extinct arthropods, fish, amphibians, synapsids, and reptiles....
     series. In the series, it was mentioned that Edaphosaurus's worst enemy was Dimetrodon
    Dimetrodon

    Dimetrodon was a predatory synapsid genus that flourished during the Permian Period , living between 280?265 million years ago. It was more closely related to mammals than to true reptiles such as lizards....
    .


Gallery


See also

  • Ianthasaurus
    Ianthasaurus

    Ianthasaurus was a small edaphosauridae from the Late Pennsylvanian. Ianthasaurus lacks many of the spectacular specializations seen in Edaphosaurus....
  • Haptodus
    Haptodus

    Haptodus was a small sphenacodontia, a lineage that includes therapsids. It was at least in length. It lived from Latest Carboniferous to Early Permian, in the equatorial Pangea....
  • Sphenacodon
    Sphenacodon

    Sphenacodon was a pelycosaur that was about in length. Sphenacodon belongs to the family Sphenacodontidae, a lineage that was related to the therapsids....
  • Platyhystrix
    Platyhystrix

    Platyhystrix was a temnospondyl amphibian with a distinctive sail along its back, similar to the unrelated synapsids, Dimetrodon and Edaphosaurus....
     - an unrelated animal with a sail on its back


External links