Edaphosauridae

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.

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
Clade: Haptodontiformes
Clade: Sphenacomorpha
Family: Edaphosauridae
Cope, 1882
Type species
Edaphosaurus pogonias
Cope, 1882
Genera

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

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):[3]

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. 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
  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.
  3. Benson, R.J. (2012). "Interrelationships of basal synapsids: cranial and postcranial morphological partitions suggest different topologies". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. in press (4): 601–624. 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


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