Edaphosauridae

Edaphosauridae
Temporal range: Late Carboniferous to Early Permian 302–280 Ma
Mounted skeleton of Edaphosaurus pogonias in the Field Museum of Natural History
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Clade: Eupelycosauria
Family: Edaphosauridae
Cope, 1882
Type species
Edaphosaurus pogonias
Cope, 1882
Genera

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.[1]

Edaphosauridae

Ianthasaurus hardestiorum




Glaucosaurus megalops



Lupeosaurus kayi




Edaphosaurus novomexicanus




Edaphosaurus colohistion




Edaphosaurus boanerges




Edaphosaurus cruciger



Edaphosaurus pogonias








Below is a cladogram modified from the analysis of Benson (in press):[2]



Tseajaia campi



Limnoscelis paludis


Amniota


Captorhinus spp.



Protorothyris archeri



Synapsida


Ophiacodontidae



Varanopidae





Caseasauria




Ianthodon schultzei



Edaphosauridae

Ianthasaurus hardestiorum




Glaucosaurus megalops



Lupeosaurus kayi




Edaphosaurus boanerges



Edaphosaurus novomexicanus





Sphenacodontia

Haptodus garnettensis




Pantelosaurus saxonicus




Therapsida



Sphenacodontidae











References

  1. 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.
  2. Benson, R.J. (2012). "Interrelationships of basal synapsids: cranial and postcranial morphological partitions suggest different topologies". Journal of Systematic Paleontology. in press. doi:10.1080/14772019.2011.631042.
  • 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
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.