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Dimetrodon was probably one of the apex predators of the Cisuralian ecosystems, feeding on fish and tetrapods, including reptiles and amphibians. Smaller Dimetrodon species may have had different ecological roles. The sail of Dimetrodon may have been used to stabilize its spine or to heat and cool its body as a form of thermoregulation. [8]
A neural spine sail is a large, flattish protrusion from the back of an animal formed of a sequence of extended vertebral spinous processes and associated tissues. Such structures are comparatively rare in modern animals, but have been identified in many extinct species of amphibians and amniotes .
Dimetrodon is an extinct genus of synapsid that lived during the Early Permian, around 299–270 million years ago (Ma). It is a member of the family Sphenacodontidae. The most prominent feature of Dimetrodon is the large sail on its back formed by elongated spines extending from the vertebrae. It walked on four legs and had a tall, curved ...
Fossil remains of many Permian tetrapods (four-limbed vertebrates) have been found in the Red Beds, including those of Dimetrodon, Edaphosaurus, Seymouria, Platyhystrix, and Eryops. A recurring feature in many of these animals is the sail structure on their backs. [3] Edaphosaurus pogonias and Platyhystrix
The sail along the back of Edaphosaurus was supported by hugely elongated neural spines from neck to lumbar region, connected by tissue in life. When compared with the sail of Dimetrodon, the vertebral spines are shorter and heavier, and bear numerous small crossbars.
Dimetrodon, the iconic sail-backed synapsid, was not a dinosaur, nor did it live at the same time as the dinosaurs. Dimetrodon is often mistakenly called a dinosaur or considered to be a contemporary of dinosaurs in popular culture, but it became extinct some 40 million years before the first appearance of dinosaurs.
The teeth of Dimetrodon borealis are long, recurved, and distinctively teardrop-shaped, being widest at the middle rather than the base. The teardrop shape of the teeth is an indication that Dimetrodon borealis belongs to the family Sphenacodontidae.
Dimetrodon and Secodontosaurus have very similar postcranial skeletons, with a tall dorsal sail supported by thin, rod-like cylindrical neural spines. By contrast, Sphenacodon and Ctenospondylus have a lower dorsal crest formed from flat, blade-like neural spines, relatively low in Sphenacodon and taller in Ctenospondylus .