Dimetrodon
Dimetrodon grandis
Dimetrodon shows that large synapsids were dominant predators long before the dinosaurs.
Image: H. Zell · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
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Sites on today's globe · 1 marker
Characteristics
- Scientific name
- Dimetrodon grandis
- Period
- Early Permian
- Lived
- 295–272 Ma (295 million years ago)
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Habitat
- Swamp, Plains
- Length (estimate)
- 3 m
- Mass (estimate)
- 200 kg
Description
Dimetrodon was a synapsid with a tall, sail-like structure formed by elongated vertebral spines and skin. Its large head bore several kinds of teeth, including long canines, consistent with a carnivorous diet. The sail's function is uncertain; thermoregulation, signalling or both have been proposed. Despite its reptile-like appearance, it was more closely related to mammals than to dinosaurs.
Habitat
River deltas and dry to seasonally wet interiors of Pangaea.
Fossil sites
Wichita Group, Texas
Wichita Group
Cultural profile: United States →
Contemporaries in the database
Sources: Dimetrodon