 |
|
|
|
Thu, 30 Apr, 2026
|
|
|
Pay as you go
No monthly charges. Access for the price of a phone call
Go>
Unmetered
Flat rate dialup access from only £4.99 a month Go>
Broadband
Surf faster from just £13.99 a month Go> |
Save Even More
Combine your phone and internet, and save on your phone calls
More Info> |
This weeks hot offer
24: Series 5
In association with Amazon.co.uk £26.97 |
|
|
? Pelycosaurs
Conservation status: Fossil
|
Dimetrodon grandis skeleton at the
National Museum of Natural History
|
| Scientific classification |
| Kingdom: |
Animalia
|
| Phylum: |
Chordata
|
| Superclass: |
Tetrapoda
|
| Class: |
Synapsida
|
| Order: |
Pelycosauria
Cope, 1878 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Groups
|
Caseasauria
-
Eothyrididae
-
Caseidae
Eupelycosauria
-
Varanopseidae
-
Ophiacodontidae
-
Edaphosauridae
-
Sphenacodontidae
|
The pelycosaurs were smallish to large (up to 3 meters or more) primitive Late Paleozoic synapsid reptiles. They appeared during the Late Carboniferous and reached their acme in the early part of the Permian, remaining the dominant land animals for many millions of years. A few stragglers continued into the late Permian.At least two pelycosaur clades independently evolved a tall sail, consisting of elongated vertebral spines: the edaphosaurids and the sphenacodontids. In life this would have been covered by skin, and presumably functioned as a thermoregulatory device. Pelycosaur fossils have been found mainly in Europe and North America, although some small late-surviving forms are known from Russia and South Africa.Well-known pelycosaurs include the genera Dimetrodon, Sphenacodon, Edaphosaurus, and Ophiacodon.Pelycosauria is a paraphyletic taxon because it excludes the therapsids. Eupelycosauria is used for Pelycosauria and Therapsida, and is monophyletic.
 Taxonomy - Contents
- Class Synapsida
- ORDER PELYCOSAURIA
- Suborder Caseasauria
- Family Eothyrididae
- Family Caseidae
- (unranked) Eupelycosauria
- Family Varanopseidae
- Family Ophiacodontidae
- Family Edaphosauridae
- Suborder Sphenacodontia
- Bathygnathus
- Macrornerion
- Milosaurus
- Tetraceratops
- Haptodus
- Palaeohatteria
- Pantelosaurus
- Cutleria
- Family Sphenacodontidae
- ORDER THERAPSIDA
|
Change Text Size:
[A]
[default]
[A] |
 |
|
|
|
|
