Dimetrodon

Dimetrodon is an extinct genus of sphenacodontid synapsid that lived during the Cisuralian to early Guadalupian epoch of the Permian period, around 294.1–271 million years ago. With most species measuring 1.7–4.6 m (5.6–15.1 ft) long and weighing 28–250 kg (62–551 lb), the most prominent feature of Dimetrodon is the large neural spine sail on its back formed by elongated spines extending from the vertebrae. It was an obligate quadruped and had a tall, curved skull with large teeth of different sizes set along the jaws. Most fossils have been found in the Southwestern United States, the majority of these coming from a geological deposit called the Red Beds of Texas and Oklahoma. More recently, its fossils have also been found in Germany and over a dozen species have been named since the genus was first erected in 1878.

Dimetrodon

H. Zell · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
SphenacodontinaePBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Amniota
Length
4 mWikidata
Mass
250 kgWikidata

Time the record covers

At least 10 million years on record.

The record covers at least 293.52 Mya to 283.3 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 298.9 Mya to 251.902 Mya.

Carboniferous — about 0 of 94 occurrencesPermian — about 94 of 94 occurrencesPermianEarly Triassic — about 0 of 94 occurrences300–298 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences298–297 Mya — about 2 occurrences297–295 Mya — about 2 occurrences295–293 Mya — about 2 occurrences293–292 Mya — about 3 occurrences292–290 Mya — about 3 occurrences290–288 Mya — about 8 occurrences288–287 Mya — about 8 occurrences287–285 Mya — about 8 occurrences285–284 Mya — about 8 occurrences284–282 Mya — about 8 occurrences282–280 Mya — about 8 occurrences280–279 Mya — about 8 occurrences279–277 Mya — about 8 occurrences277–275 Mya — about 8 occurrences275–274 Mya — about 5 occurrences274–272 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences272–271 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences271–269 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences269–267 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences267–266 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences266–264 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences264–262 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences262–261 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences261–259 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences259–257 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences257–256 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences256–254 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences254–253 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences253–251 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences293.52 Mya283.3 Mya299.8 Mya251 Mya

94 occurrences of Dimetrodon on record, most of them in the Permian. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

94 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

22 formations

Vale — 32.13°N, 99.75°WVale — 33.73°N, 99.56°WVale — 33.76°N, 99.55°WVale — 33.60°N, 99.25°WVale — 32.23°N, 99.83°WVale — 33.67°N, 99.78°WArroyo — 33.77°N, 99.22°WArroyo — 33.76°N, 99.14°WArroyo — 33.70°N, 99.27°WArroyo — 33.97°N, 99.20°WBelle Plains — 33.74°N, 98.90°WBelle Plains — 33.69°N, 99.02°WBelle Plains — 33.87°N, 98.84°WWaggoner Ranch — 33.69°N, 99.02°WWaggoner Ranch — 33.82°N, 98.69°WWaggoner Ranch — 33.73°N, 99.09°WWaggoner Ranch — 33.76°N, 99.14°WAdmiral — 33.60°N, 98.63°WAdmiral — 33.82°N, 98.69°WAdmiral — 33.60°N, 98.92°WGarber — 36.77°N, 97.77°WGarber — 34.30°N, 98.60°WGarber — 36.66°N, 97.69°WWellington — 36.16°N, 97.34°WWellington — 36.35°N, 97.43°WWellington — 36.74°N, 97.42°WWellington — 36.30°N, 97.30°WPutnam — 33.60°N, 98.63°WAbo — 35.77°N, 106.69°WAbo — 33.07°N, 107.22°WAbo — 34.30°N, 106.54°WNocona — 33.68°N, 98.70°WNocona — 33.72°N, 98.34°WNocona — 33.83°N, 98.09°WLueders — 33.75°N, 99.12°WLueders — 33.75°N, 99.15°WClyde — 33.77°N, 99.10°WPetrolia — 33.69°N, 99.02°WPetrolia — 33.64°N, 98.90°WHennessey — 34.19°N, 98.79°WHennessey — 35.95°N, 97.58°WSan Angelo — 33.69°N, 99.95°WSan Angelo — 33.64°N, 99.93°WArcher City — 33.58°N, 98.65°WArcher City — 33.67°N, 98.69°WGarber Sandstone — 34.58°N, 98.85°WGarber Sandstone — 34.53°N, 98.89°WBead Mountain — 34.13°N, 98.62°WOrby Head — 46.52°N, 63.52°WTambach — 50.81°N, 10.62°EAbo/Cutler — 35.72°N, 106.78°WChoza — 33.82°N, 99.56°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Dimetrodon has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 4 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Dimetrodon and its relatives

Permian

Where Dimetrodon and its relatives were recorded in the Permian.

Found in the same rock

256 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 62 sites for Dimetrodon, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

33 references

Each of the 94 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 21 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Dimetrodon

Credit
H. Zell
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Dimetrodon loomisi · fmnh:uc:40

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itSphenacodontinae through timeFormations of the PermianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Cope 1878