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Description
Dimetrodon angelensis

The Permian era has been seen as the period in earth’s history as when life came the closest to utter annihilation. The Permian-Triassic extinction event culminated with nearly all of life vanishing from the face of the earth. In the aftermath of this extinction, archosaurs and mainly the dinosaurs would dominate the era for over 160,000,000 years. However, prior to the Permian-Triassic Extinction Event, the arrival of the dinosaurs, or even most archosaurs in general, is an animal that is often confused with dinosaurs, but it’s not a dinosaur. In the early Permian, some 60,000,000 years before the first true dinosaur arose, was an iconic Permian animal known as Dimetrodon.

History and Discovery:

In 1845, an amateur fossil hunter, Donald McLeod was prospecting for fossils on the British Colony Prince Edward Island off the coast of New Brunswick. What he found was the upper maxilla, these were purchased by John William Johnson, an associate of Joseph Leidy, the foremost paleontologist in the United States. He described the animal as “Bathygnathus borealis” meaning Northern Deep Jaw. It wouldn’t be until 2015 when the animal was redescribed as a species of Dimetrodon.

Dimetrodon itself was described by Leidy’s pupil, Edward Drinker Cope in 1875. Some of the fossils were collected by Charles Sternberg from Texas. However, Dimetrodon fossils that would give it its name were from Vermillion County in Illinois. Cope named the specimen from Illinois, Clepsydrops limbatus meaning. The genus name means “Hourglass Face” derived from Greek, furthermore, the specific name, limbatus, means “bordered,” after the nature of the fragmentary skull. Thus, bordered hourglass face is what the species means. Dimetrodon was described from the latter finds in Texas. He coined the term after a partial skull that was found. Dimetrodon literally means, “two measures of teeth” derived from Latin. Although it’s a primitive synapsid, it actually is beginning to show two distinctive types of teeth designed to process food. The type species he coined “Dimetrodon gigas” given the interpreted size of the animal and was named the type species by Cope.

In the intervening years, while Clepsydrops is still a valid genus, it’s been found that C. limbatus was a Dimetrodon species and it was rebranded as Dimetrodon limbatus.Thus, it is now dubbed as the type species of the animal. Furthermore, D.gigas has been redubbed as D.grandis. Mainly because the original fossils were fragmentary and since D.limbatus was redubbed as the type species, D.gigas is seen as invalid and it was dubbed as D.grandis. However, despite its specific name, it was not the largest.

In 1962, paleontologist Everett C. Olson described a fairly complete specimen of Dimetrodon, and it was at least a third bigger compared to the largest species. He dubbed it Dimetrodon angelensis. The specific name is derived from the San Angelo Formation where the species was first discovered. It is this species that this profile is focusing on.

Classification:

Dimetrodon is almost always described as a dinosaur when in reality, these animals are more closely related to you or me than to any dinosaur.

Dimetrodon is a non-mammalian synapsid. Its broader family, sphenacodontidae, is believed to be more basal than therapsids. Animals that include gorgonopsians, cynodonts and of course, mammals. It’s believed that approximately 310-300,000,000 years ago in the Carboniferous, sphenacodonts shared a common ancestor with mammals. They diverged from each other and would give rise to sphenacodonts and the other to therapsids.

Description:

Dimetrodon angelensis is the largest species in the genus. Roughly 15ft long from snout to tail tip, and 6.5ft tall to the top of the tail. Weighing in at 500-550lbs it would have been the undisputed apex predator of the region it resided in.

As its name suggests, the animal is equipped with two distinctive types of teeth. The teeth in the front of the jaw (premaxilla) are longer, reminiscent of canines designed to rip flesh. The rear teeth on the maxilla are shorter, however, despite their distinctive measures of teeth, they all have serrations on them designed to strip flesh. Furthermore, it’s likely they couldn’t chew their food like their modern mammalian cousins.

Of course, it was quadruped, but walking on all fours and having a long tail. Many depictions show it with a sprawled gait and dragging its tail on the ground. However, trackways found in America and Europe dubbed, Dimetropus show what appear to be a synapsid resembling Dimetrodon walking in a more upright posture. While likely it did drag its tail, given its phylogenetic placement being more closely related to mammals, it’s believed this animal probably had a more upright posture compared to most reconstructions.

Most likely this animal was an active apex predator with it probably having a warm-blooded animal. This is actually not beyond belief as studies of its nasal region indicate that it hand a transitional nasal structure between early amniotes and mammals. The more transitional nature of the nasal region has been correlated with warm bloodedness in that it was larger compared to other amniotes and probably had mucus regions designed to warm the air it breathed.

Sail:

Arguably the most iconic trait of Dimetrodon is the sail. The sail is composed of extended neural spines that extend high above the back. In D.angelensis, they’re roughly 3-3.7ft tall. The function of the sail has been subject to debate. Some believe the sail is designed to regulate the body temperature of the animal, others, believe it was for display. More recent studies favor the latter. One reason is that Dimetrodon sails were present across all species of Dimetrodon. All of them proportional in relation to body size. Since smaller sails take up less surface area, they would not have been as efficient to dissipate heat. More likely the display function designed to intimidate rivals or attract mates.

Many depictions of the spines have skin extending all the way to the top of the spines. Studies of the sail indicates that is likely the correct depiction of this animal. Fossils of the sail show that there are crooked portions atop the spines. What it suggests is that crooked spines of Dimetrodon had skin extending only part way up the spine.

Habitat:

D.angelensis was the apex predator of the region it resided in. During the early Permian, Texas’s environment was massively different compared to the modern scrubland and deserts of today. It was a region of wetlands, and a far more tropical environment with rivers and deltas dominating the landscape.

Various species of Dimetrodon inhabited the region from D.natalis, D.grandis and the largest, being D.angelensis. However, it shared the environment with animals like its close cousin, Edaphosaurus, a close cousin of Dimetrodon with a sail, but it was herbivorous.
Moreover amphibians like Eryops, Trimerorhachis, and Diplocaulus inhabiting the waterways and banks of the wetlands.

All of the aforementioned animals could have been easy prey for Dimetrodon. With its powerful jaws and more active lifestyle, the swamps of Permian Texas would have been its oyster. However, this animal’s reign would not last forever.

Extinction:

Dimetrodon was a massively successful carnivore, however, it’s dominance would eventually fade away. Around 272,000,000 years ago, Sphenacodontidae died out across the planet. The extinction is probably due to climate change. Increased volcanic activity actually caused a extinction event some 273,000,000 years ago, it was a precursor of things to come later in the Permian.

They were replaced by more derived predators. Among them would be their distant cousins, namely the therapsids with animals like Dinocephalians and Gorgonopsians filling the niche of apex predators across the globe.

Despite the fact these awesome synapsids died out, this amazing apex predator offers an insight into the fascinating period of the Permian. Today, while all that remains of this predator are its fossils, its distinctive sail captures the imagination of people in museum halls everywhere. And of course, its appearance confuses many a layman on it being a dinosaur.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

I’M ALIVE!!!

Okay, I saw Jurassic World Dominion, and decided to make this baby. However, don’t mean to brag but… Nah, I mean to brag, of course, far more accurate than its mine dwelling counterpart. At first I thought about modding this guy to be an Edaphosaurus, but I ultimately went with a juvenile Eryops as its prey for the profile. I loved this guy in Zoo Tycoon 2, and I love the details that Lgcfm and Ulquiorra put into this guy. A far more accurate head shape, upright posture and far better proportions.

Will this guy be in PMP? No. As I’ve said before, the farthest back I’ll go is the Triassic. TBH, I find the Triassic far more fascinating in terms of its fauna. However, I did want to give this guy a profile so here it is. Part 4 is nearly done, just got one more scene to do and we’re set. Hoping to knock it out this weekend!

Eyrops by Demon Hunter:
Eryops (Demon Hunter) | ZT2 Download Library Wiki | Fandom

Dimetrodon by Lgcfm and Ulquiorra:
Dimetrodon (Lgcfm & Ulquiorra) | ZT2 Download Library Wiki | Fandom

Description
Dimetrodon angelensis

The Permian era has been seen as the period in earth’s history as when life came the closest to utter annihilation. The Permian-Triassic extinction event culminated with nearly all of life vanishing from the face of the earth. In the aftermath of this extinction, archosaurs and mainly the dinosaurs would dominate the era for over 160,000,000 years. However, prior to the Permian-Triassic Extinction Event, the arrival of the dinosaurs, or even most archosaurs in general, is an animal that is often confused with dinosaurs, but it’s not a dinosaur. In the early Permian, some 60,000,000 years before the first true dinosaur arose, was an iconic Permian animal known as Dimetrodon.

History and Discovery:

In 1845, an amateur fossil hunter, Donald McLeod was prospecting for fossils on the British Colony Prince Edward Island off the coast of New Brunswick. What he found was the upper maxilla, these were purchased by John William Johnson, an associate of Joseph Leidy, the foremost paleontologist in the United States. He described the animal as “Bathygnathus borealis” meaning Northern Deep Jaw. It wouldn’t be until 2015 when the animal was redescribed as a species of Dimetrodon.

Dimetrodon itself was described by Leidy’s pupil, Edward Drinker Cope in 1875. Some of the fossils were collected by Charles Sternberg from Texas. However, Dimetrodon fossils that would give it its name were from Vermillion County in Illinois. Cope named the specimen from Illinois, Clepsydrops limbatus meaning. The genus name means “Hourglass Face” derived from Greek, furthermore, the specific name, limbatus, means “bordered,” after the nature of the fragmentary skull. Thus, bordered hourglass face is what the species means. Dimetrodon was described from the latter finds in Texas. He coined the term after a partial skull that was found. Dimetrodon literally means, “two measures of teeth” derived from Latin. Although it’s a primitive synapsid, it actually is beginning to show two distinctive types of teeth designed to process food. The type species he coined “Dimetrodon gigas” given the interpreted size of the animal and was named the type species by Cope.

In the intervening years, while Clepsydrops is still a valid genus, it’s been found that C. limbatus was a Dimetrodon species and it was rebranded as Dimetrodon limbatus.Thus, it is now dubbed as the type species of the animal. Furthermore, D.gigas has been redubbed as D.grandis. Mainly because the original fossils were fragmentary and since D.limbatus was redubbed as the type species, D.gigas is seen as invalid and it was dubbed as D.grandis. However, despite its specific name, it was not the largest.

In 1962, paleontologist Everett C. Olson described a fairly complete specimen of Dimetrodon, and it was at least a third bigger compared to the largest species. He dubbed it Dimetrodon angelensis. The specific name is derived from the San Angelo Formation where the species was first discovered. It is this species that this profile is focusing on.

Classification:

Dimetrodon is almost always described as a dinosaur when in reality, these animals are more closely related to you or me than to any dinosaur.

Dimetrodon is a non-mammalian synapsid. Its broader family, sphenacodontidae, is believed to be more basal than therapsids. Animals that include gorgonopsians, cynodonts and of course, mammals. It’s believed that approximately 310-300,000,000 years ago in the Carboniferous, sphenacodonts shared a common ancestor with mammals. They diverged from each other and would give rise to sphenacodonts and the other to therapsids.

Description:

Dimetrodon angelensis is the largest species in the genus. Roughly 15ft long from snout to tail tip, and 6.5ft tall to the top of the tail. Weighing in at 500-550lbs it would have been the undisputed apex predator of the region it resided in.

As its name suggests, the animal is equipped with two distinctive types of teeth. The teeth in the front of the jaw (premaxilla) are longer, reminiscent of canines designed to rip flesh. The rear teeth on the maxilla are shorter, however, despite their distinctive measures of teeth, they all have serrations on them designed to strip flesh. Furthermore, it’s likely they couldn’t chew their food like their modern mammalian cousins.

Of course, it was quadruped, but walking on all fours and having a long tail. Many depictions show it with a sprawled gait and dragging its tail on the ground. However, trackways found in America and Europe dubbed, Dimetropus show what appear to be a synapsid resembling Dimetrodon walking in a more upright posture. While likely it did drag its tail, given its phylogenetic placement being more closely related to mammals, it’s believed this animal probably had a more upright posture compared to most reconstructions.

Most likely this animal was an active apex predator with it probably having a warm-blooded animal. This is actually not beyond belief as studies of its nasal region indicate that it hand a transitional nasal structure between early amniotes and mammals. The more transitional nature of the nasal region has been correlated with warm bloodedness in that it was larger compared to other amniotes and probably had mucus regions designed to warm the air it breathed.

Sail:

Arguably the most iconic trait of Dimetrodon is the sail. The sail is composed of extended neural spines that extend high above the back. In D.angelensis, they’re roughly 3-3.7ft tall. The function of the sail has been subject to debate. Some believe the sail is designed to regulate the body temperature of the animal, others, believe it was for display. More recent studies favor the latter. One reason is that Dimetrodon sails were present across all species of Dimetrodon. All of them proportional in relation to body size. Since smaller sails take up less surface area, they would not have been as efficient to dissipate heat. More likely the display function designed to intimidate rivals or attract mates.

Many depictions of the spines have skin extending all the way to the top of the spines. Studies of the sail indicates that is likely the correct depiction of this animal. Fossils of the sail show that there are crooked portions atop the spines. What it suggests is that crooked spines of Dimetrodon had skin extending only part way up the spine.

Habitat:

D.angelensis was the apex predator of the region it resided in. During the early Permian, Texas’s environment was massively different compared to the modern scrubland and deserts of today. It was a region of wetlands, and a far more tropical environment with rivers and deltas dominating the landscape.

Various species of Dimetrodon inhabited the region from D.natalis, D.grandis and the largest, being D.angelensis. However, it shared the environment with animals like its close cousin, Edaphosaurus, a close cousin of Dimetrodon with a sail, but it was herbivorous.
Moreover amphibians like Eryops, Trimerorhachis, and Diplocaulus inhabiting the waterways and banks of the wetlands.

All of the aforementioned animals could have been easy prey for Dimetrodon. With its powerful jaws and more active lifestyle, the swamps of Permian Texas would have been its oyster. However, this animal’s reign would not last forever.

Extinction:

Dimetrodon was a massively successful carnivore, however, it’s dominance would eventually fade away. Around 272,000,000 years ago, Sphenacodontidae died out across the planet. The extinction is probably due to climate change. Increased volcanic activity actually caused a extinction event some 273,000,000 years ago, it was a precursor of things to come later in the Permian.

They were replaced by more derived predators. Among them would be their distant cousins, namely the therapsids with animals like Dinocephalians and Gorgonopsians filling the niche of apex predators across the globe.

Despite the fact these awesome synapsids died out, this amazing apex predator offers an insight into the fascinating period of the Permian. Today, while all that remains of this predator are its fossils, its distinctive sail captures the imagination of people in museum halls everywhere. And of course, its appearance confuses many a layman on it being a dinosaur.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

I’M ALIVE!!!

Okay, I saw Jurassic World Dominion, and decided to make this baby. However, don’t mean to brag but… Nah, I mean to brag, of course, far more accurate than its mine dwelling counterpart. At first I thought about modding this guy to be an Edaphosaurus, but I ultimately went with a juvenile Eryops as its prey for the profile. I loved this guy in Zoo Tycoon 2, and I love the details that Lgcfm and Ulquiorra put into this guy. A far more accurate head shape, upright posture and far better proportions.

Will this guy be in PMP? No. As I’ve said before, the farthest back I’ll go is the Triassic. TBH, I find the Triassic far more fascinating in terms of its fauna. However, I did want to give this guy a profile so here it is. Part 4 is nearly done, just got one more scene to do and we’re set. Hoping to knock it out this weekend!

Eyrops by Demon Hunter:
Eryops (Demon Hunter) | ZT2 Download Library Wiki | Fandom

Dimetrodon by Lgcfm and Ulquiorra:
Dimetrodon (Lgcfm & Ulquiorra) | ZT2 Download Library Wiki | Fandom