Edaphosaurus

Edaphosaurus was most likely a slow-moving, heavy-bodied animal that inhabited swampy and riparian environments where abundant vegetation provided ample grazing resources.

The body length of Edaphosaurus could exceed 3.5 meters (approximately 11.5 feet), with an estimated mass of over 300 kilograms (around 660 pounds). This genus lived during the Late Carboniferous to Early Permian period (approximately 303–272 million years ago).

Edaphosaurus represents one of the earliest large-bodied herbivorous vertebrates among terrestrial amniotes. Its most striking feature was the dorsal sail, composed of elongated neural spines covered by soft tissue or skin.

Proposed functions of this sail include:

-Thermoregulation (absorbing and dissipating heat)

-Metabolic storage of fat or phosphate

-Display functions related to mate attraction or intraspecific recognition

-Defensive adaptation, making the animal appear larger to potential predators

Despite frequent misconceptions, Edaphosaurus was not a dinosaur; in fact, it lived millions of years before the first dinosaurs appeared. Dinosaurs only emerged around 100 million years after the extinction of Edaphosaurus, during the Late Triassic period.

References

·        Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2023). "Edaphosaurus." Encyclopædia Britannica.

·        Reisz, R. R. (1986). Pelycosauria. Handbuch der Paläoherpetologie, Teil 17. Gustav Fischer Verlag.

·        Romer, A. S., & Price, L. I. (1940). Review of the Pelycosauria. Geological Society of America Special Papers, 28, 1–538.

·        "Edaphosaurus." (2023). Wikipedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edaphosaurus

·        Prehistoric Wildlife. "Edaphosaurus." Retrieved from http://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/species/e/edaphosaurus.html