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 PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
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
†Bohemiclavulus †Edaphosaurus †Gordodon †Glaucosaurus †Ianthasaurus †Lupeosaurus †Ramodendron[1] †Remigiomontanus †Xyrospondylus

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

External links

• Edaphosauridae