Would you like to read about a prehistoric animal? Not convinced? Alright, how about a pre-historic animal that used to live long before any dinosaur even existed?
We know you’re invested now, read on to find out more about this interesting animal including the name of the museum where its specimen is on display!
The dimetrodon is an extinct genus of the Synapsid class that used to live during the early Permian period about 272 to 295 million years ago.
It belongs to the Sphenacodontidae group. Several fossils belonging to this animal were discovered in south western United States including geological deposits from Texas and Oklahoma.
The most recent fossils were found in Germany. The Dimetrodon is recognized by its sail, which was used to maintain its body temperature (by absorbing and releasing heat) and provide stability to its spine.
It is said that these animals absorbed heat from the sun all day long and released the stored heat slowly during night time to keep its body warm.
However, this is not necessarily fact as some recent theories suggest that the sail did not help regulate the animal’s body temperature.
Smaller dimetrodon species had large sails that were known for their ecological roles.
The Dimetrodon was described by Edward Drinker Cope in 1878, and its name means ‘two measures of teeth’. Around 20 species of Dimetrodon have been described so far.
The Dimetrodon was a quadrupedal (meaning walked on four legs) sail-backed synapsid, with a large sail-like flap that grew out of a bone present on its back.
Fossils revealed that it had a tall, and rounded skull, long, bony spines on the sail, and large teeth of various sizes along its jaws.
There are larger and smaller species of Dimetrodon and the larger ones are considered as the largest predators present in the early Permian period.
The Dimetrodon had a large opening on each side of its skull, which is absent among mammals, and thus makes it easy to identify this species from other mammals and Sauropsids.
Ridges seen inside the nasal cavity and at the back of its lower jaw have been described by scientists as an ‘evolutionary progression from being land-dwelling vertebrates to mammals’.
The skull of Dimetrodon is compressed laterally and quite tall.
Paleontologists suggest that they fed mainly on aquatic animals, and used their sail as a camouflage to hide among reeds while waiting on their prey.
Some suggest the Dimetrodon used the sail on its back like an actual boat sail so it could chase after its prey in the water.
Other paleontologists have theorized that it was simply used to intimidate other animals.
A study of their fossil remains indicated that these animals could adapt to a variety of habitats, although the climate they lived in is not fully certain.
The reproductiveprocess of the Dimetrodon is considered to have been the same as that common to reptiles such as the crocodilians of the present day.
This means they were most likely oviparous and may have laid large clutches of eggs in self-heating nests. However, this theory has not yet been confirmed.
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Ref: wikipedia, kidadl, thoughtco, prehistoric-wildlife, paleozooPic: wikipedia, prehistoric-wildlife, quora, nbcnews, paleozoo, animals.net, allosaurusroar, hmns, pinterest
