| Haptodus Temporal range: late Carboniferous (Gzhelian) to Early Permian |
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|---|---|
| Haptodus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Synapsida |
| Order: | Pelycosauria |
| (unranked) | Eupelycosauria |
| (unranked) | Sphenacodontia |
| Genus: | Haptodus |
| Species | |
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H. garnettensis |
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Haptodus was a small sphenacodont, a clade that includes therapsids and hence, mammals. It was at least 1.5 metres (5 ft) in length. It lived from Latest Carboniferous to Early Permian, in the equatorial Pangea. It was a medium-sized predator, feeding on insects and small vertebrates. It is one of the basalmost sphenacodontian. Haptodus (like Haptodontinae) appears to be paraphyletic [1] and located on the stem that gave rise to sphenacodontids, such as Dimetrodon, as well as therapsids. Unlike Dimetrodon, it lacked the "sail". Some authors have synonymized Palaeohatteria, Pantelosaurus, and Cutleria with Haptodus, but this does not appear to be warranted[2] .