Edaphosauridae
Extinct family of synapsids
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Edaphosauridae is a family of mostly large (up to 3 m (9.8 ft) 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, ~ | |
|---|---|
| |
| 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 | |
| Genera | |
| |
Characteristics
They were the earliest known herbivorous amniotes and, along with the Diadectidae, the earliest known herbivorous tetrapods.[1] The head is small in relation to the bulky body, and there is a tall sail along the back, the purpose of which is unknown and a subject of active research and debate, but which was once widely believed to have functioned as a thermoregulatory device.
.jpg){kind=small}