Ophiacodon

Ophiacodon mirus

Europe (England, France) North America ( USA )

Ophiacodon is an extinct genus of the earliest synapsids ( " Pelycosauria " ) and is one of the best-known representatives. Fossil remains are the Members of the Lower Permian of North Texas.

  • 3.1 Synonyms

Description

Ophiacodon were very large Pelycosaurier that were up to 3.60 meters in length from 1.5 to 2.5 meters, later forms and probably between 30 and 50 Kilogramm weighed. The individual species had increased continuously in body size until their extinction in the Lower Permian.

They possessed a towering skull, which was flattened laterally. The jaw took a three-fifths of the length of the skull and was narrow, high and equipped with sharp, relatively uniform teeth. The absence of large fangs and the small ossification of wrist and ankle led to the assumption that Ophiacodon of fish fed aquatic and lived in rivers and lakes. However, saith the high skull against such a way of life.

Character features

  • Flattened finger and toe bones
  • Eye orbital very high on the skull
  • The Supraoccipital lacks the lateral extent over the posttemporale window.
  • Above the canines of the upper jaw there is a rising edge.
  • The area in front of the row of teeth on the pterygoid is toothless.
  • The vertebrae tension between the rib hump and the back of the head vortex head end to a bone layer.

Locations

The findings of Ophiacodon are ( so far) limited to North America and Europe:

  • England: Kenilworth breccia - Cisuralium
  • France: Lower Permian of Autun - Ophiacodontiden
  • United States: Arizona: Cutler Formation - Cisuralium
  • Colorado: Cutler Formation - Cisuralium
  • Kansas: Fort Riley limestone, Chase Group - Cisuralium
  • New Mexico: Cutler Formation - Cisuralium
  • Ohio: Green Formation, Dunkard Group - Cisuralium
  • Oklahoma: Ada lineup - Pennsylvanian, Clyde lineup, Wellington lineup - Cisuralium
  • Texas: Admiral lineup, Belle Plains Formation, Clyde lineup, all part of the Wichita Group - Cisuralium
  • Utah: Cutler Formation - Cisuralium

System

The highly specialized genus Ophiacodon belongs to the family of Ophiacodontidae, it is relatively rich in species:

  • Ophiacodon grandis
  • Ophiacodon mirus Marsh, 1878 - type kind
  • Ophiacodon navajovicus Case, 1907
  • Ophiacodon retro versus Cope, 1878
  • Ophiacodon uniformis Cope, 1878

Synonyms

There are several synonym names:

  • Arribasaurus
  • Diopaeus
  • Poliosaurus
  • Theropleura
  • Therosaurus
  • Winfeldia

Ophiacodon retro versus

Fossil of O. retro versus

Various Pelycosaurier: In the middle Ophiacodon

Kasimovian Cisuralian Mya (unit) Cutler-Formation American Museum of Natural History Robert L. Carroll
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