Dimetrodon
PALAEONTOLOGICAL RECORD
Dimetrodon is an extinct genus of sphenacodontid synapsid that lived during the Cisuralian to early Guadalupian epoch of the Permian period, around 294.1–271 million years ago. With most species measuring 1.7–4.6 m (5.6–15.1 ft) long and weighing 28–250 kg (62–551 lb), the most prominent feature of Dimetrodon is the large neural spine sail on its back formed by elongated spines extending from the vertebrae. It was an obligate quadruped and had a tall, curved skull with large teeth of different sizes set along the jaws. Most fossils have been found in the Southwestern United States, the majority of these coming from a geological deposit called the Red Beds of Texas and Oklahoma. More recently, its fossils have also been found in Germany and over a dozen species have been named since the genus was first erected in 1878.
DISCOVERY
Described in 1878 by Edward Drinker Cope.
DIETARY PROFILE
Apex predator of the Permian, tracking prey via smell.
NOTABLE PALAEONTOLOGY FACTS
- It is not a dinosaur at all; it's a synapsid, placing it closer to mammals than to reptiles on the evolutionary tree.
- It went completely extinct 40 million years before the first true dinosaur existed.
HOLLYWOOD INACCURACIES
- Appearance is good, but they lived millions of years before the first dinosaurs.
