Everything about Dimetrodon totally explained
Dimetrodon (meaning "two measures of teeth") was a
predatory
synapsid ('
mammal-like reptile')
genus that flourished during the
Permian Period, living between 280–265
million years ago. It was more closely related to
mammals than to true
reptiles such as
dinosaurs and
lizards.
Dimetrodon wasn't a dinosaur, despite being popularly grouped with them. Rather, it's classified as a
pelycosaur. Fossils of
Dimetrodon have been found in
North America and
Europe, as well as a significant discovery of
Dimetrodon footprints in southern
New Mexico by Jerry MacDonald. The climate of Europe and North America in the Early Permian was probably
arid to
continental, so
Dimetrodon was probably adaptable.
Description
Dimetrodon was an
apex predator, among the largest of its day. It grew to up to 3 1/2 meters (11 feet) in length. The name
Dimetrodon means 'two-measures of teeth', so named because it had a large skull with two different types of teeth (shearing teeth and sharp canine teeth), unlike reptiles. Dentition showing this differentiation of teeth is called
heterodonty. It walked on four side-sprawling legs and had a large tail.
Dimetrodon may have moved in a manner similar to present-day
lizards.
Sail
The most distinctive characteristic of
Dimetrodon was the spectacular sail on its back (other pelycosaurs such as
Edaphosaurus,
Ianthasaurus, and
Sphenacodon also have this trait). The sail, which was dense with blood vessels, was probably used to regulate body temperature; the surface area would allow it to warm up or cool off more efficiently. This adaptation was important because it would give the animal more time to hunt prey. The sail may also have been used in mating rituals and to warn off other predators. The sail was supported by
neural spines, each one sprouting from an individual
vertebra. Bramwell and Fellgett (1973) calculate that a 200 kg
Dimetrodon would heat up from 26° C to 32° C in 205 minutes without a sail and in only 80 minutes with a sail.
Relationship with modern mammals
As a synapsid,
Dimetrodon was distantly related to modern mammals.
Synapsids were the first
tetrapods to evolve differentiated (or heterodont)
teeth. Whereas
reptiles hardly chew their food, simply gulping it down, synapsids like
Dimetrodon developed teeth to help shear meat into smaller pieces for easier ingestion. These 'two-measure teeth' eventually gave rise to the various kinds of teeth present in modern mammals.
In popular culture
In many popular culture references,
Dimetrodon is often erroneously seen as a dinosaur or as living alongside dinosaurs.
A composite of
Edaphosaurus and
Dimetrodon fossils went on display in 1907 in the
American Museum of Natural History, New York, presented by the curator of vertebrate paleontology
Henry Fairfield Osborn and illustrated in the pages of
Scientific American (May 1907) as "
Naosaurus", by the great scientific illustrator
Charles R. Knight.
In the television documentary
Walking With Monsters (called
Before the Dinosaurs in the
U.S.), baby
Dimetrodon were shown hatching with sails, fully independent. In fact, no
Dimetrodon eggs have yet been found and it's entirely possible that the sail, which would be hard to store in an egg, was either absent or not rigid upon hatching. Hatchlings were portrayed sprinting towards trees after hatching in order to escape cannibalistic adults, behaviors based on the modern
Komodo Dragon.
Dimetrodon was also shown as having an egg-laying style similar to the modern
crocodile, though no evidence regarding
Dimetrodon reproduction has ever actually been found.
Dimetrodon was one of several prehistoric animals seen in the
Rite of Spring segment of Disney's
Fantasia, where it's shown as an intermediate predator, preying upon
Nothosaurus but fleeing from a
Tyrannosaurus.
Gallery of species
Image:Dimetrodon gigashomog DB.jpg|D. gigashomogenes
Image:Dimetrodon grandis.jpg|D. grandis
Image:Dimetrodon loomisi DB.jpg|D. loomisi
Image:Dimetrodon milleri.jpg|D. milleri
Image:D natalisDB.jpg|D. natalis
Image:Dimetrodon BW.jpg|Restoration of Dimetrodon
Further Information
Get more info on 'Dimetrodon'.
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