Archaeothyris
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Archaeothyris Fossil range: mid Late Carboniferous |
||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Life restoration of Archaeothyris
|
||||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||||
| Archaeothyris florensis Reisz, 1972 |
Archaeothyris was an amniote, which lived 320 million years ago, in the Middle Carboniferous Period. It is one of the oldest synapsids known. It was found in Nova Scotia, the same locality as Hylonomus, Petrolacosaurus, which they resemble, and many other early sauropsids. Unlike the Hylonomus and its kin, Archaeothyris was larger (50 cm, head to tail) and may have also eaten them. Also, Archaeothyris was more advanced than the early sauropsids, its jaws were strong, and could open wider than the early reptiles.
Contents |
[edit] Systematics
Archaeothyris belonged to the family Ophiacodontidae, a group of early pelycosaurs that evolved early in the Late Carboniferous. Archaeothyris is the precursor of all synapsids including mammals.
[edit] Lifestyle
Archaeothyris lived in what is now Nova Scotia, about 320 million years ago in the Carboniferous Period (Pennsylvanian). Nova Scotia at this time was a swamp, similar to that to today's Everglades in Florida. The trees were very tall, some up to 165 feet tall (Lepidodendron). Archaeothyris and the other early amniotes dwelled on the forest ground. Archaeothyris, like many other early amniotes, probably fell to a pit of a tree stump leaving Archaeothyris starving to death.
[edit] See also
- Evolution of mammals
- List of transitional fossils
- Carboniferous tetrapods
- Clepsydrops
- Westlothiana
- Ophiacodon
- Paleothyris
- Dimetrodon
[edit] References
- T. S. Kemp: The Origin & Evolution of Mammals. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2005. ISBN 0198507615
[edit] External links
- Transitional Vertebrate Fossils - includes description of important transitional genera from reptile to mammal (includes a little information about Archaeothyris)
 |
The subject of this article has been identified by the Missing Encyclopedic Articles project as being a high priority for expansion. |
