Edaphosauridae
Edaphosauridae Temporal range: Late Carboniferous to Early Permian
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Mounted skeleton of Edaphosaurus pogonias in the Field Museum of Natural History | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Synapsida |
Clade: | Sphenacomorpha |
Family: | †Edaphosauridae Cope, 1882 |
Type species | |
†Edaphosaurus pogonias Cope, 1882
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Genera | |
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Edaphosauridae is a family of mostly large (up to 3 meters or more) Late Carboniferous to Early Permian synapsids. Edaphosaur fossils are so far known only from North America and Europe.
Characteristics[]
They were the earliest known herbivorous amniotes and, along with the Diadectidae, the earliest known herbivorous tetrapods. The head is small in relation to the bulky body, and there is a tall sail along the back, which may have functioned as a thermoregulatory device.
Classification[]
The interrelationships of Edaphosauridae was investigated in details by David M. Mazierski and Robert R. Reisz (2010). The cladogram below is modified after their phylogenetic analysis.[2]
Edaphosauridae |
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Below is a cladogram modified from the analysis of Benson (in press):[3]
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References[]
- ^ Frederik Spindler, Sebastian Voigt & Jan Fischer (2019) Edaphosauridae (Synapsida, Eupelycosauria) from Europe and their relationship to North American representatives. PalZ (advance online publication) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-019-00453-2 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12542-019-00453-2
- ^ David M. Mazierski and Robert R. Reisz (2010). "Description of a new specimen of Ianthasaurus hardestiorum (Eupelycosauria: Edaphosauridae) and a re-evaluation of edaphosaurid phylogeny". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 47 (6): 901–912. Bibcode:2010CaJES..47..901M. doi:10.1139/E10-017.
- ^ Benson, R.J. (2012). "Interrelationships of basal synapsids: cranial and postcranial morphological partitions suggest different topologies". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 10 (4): 601–624. doi:10.1080/14772019.2011.631042. S2CID 84706899.
- Carroll, R. L. (1988), Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution, WH Freeman & Co.
- Reisz, R. R., 1986, Handbuch der Paläoherpetologie – Encyclopedia of Paleoherpetology, Part 17A Pelycosauria Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, ISBN 3-89937-032-5
External links[]
- Edaphosaurids
- Pennsylvanian first appearances
- Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope
- Prehistoric synapsid families
- Prehistoric synapsid stubs