World of Dinosaurs/Animals to Know/Dimetrodon
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![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/Dimetrodon_illustration_by_Ritterbush.svg/220px-Dimetrodon_illustration_by_Ritterbush.svg.png)
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a3/Dimetrodon_incisivum_01.jpg/472px-Dimetrodon_incisivum_01.jpg)
Note that the sail is supported by bone spines.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/Dimetrodon_illustration_by_Ritterbush.svg/220px-Dimetrodon_illustration_by_Ritterbush.svg.png)
Basics
[edit | edit source]Dimetrodon means "Two Measures of Teeth".
It gained this name because it has teeth of varying sizes.
It lived during the Permian Period.
Anatomy
[edit | edit source]Dimetrodon is a four-legged egg-laying animal that lived before the time of dinosaurs.
They are most famous for their sail that is made out of spines extending from the vertebrae.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a3/Dimetrodon_incisivum_01.jpg/472px-Dimetrodon_incisivum_01.jpg)
Phylogeny
[edit | edit source]Dimetrodons are synapsids.
This means they are more closely related to mammals than any living reptile.
Biomechanics
[edit | edit source]Dimetrodons probably used their sails to regulate their temperature.
Fossil Record
[edit | edit source]Fossils are found in Oklahoma, Ohio, Texas, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona.
It is also found in Germany.
Ecology
[edit | edit source]Dimetrodon lived near aquatic environments where fish would have thrived.
Biogeography
[edit | edit source]Dimetrodon probably inhabited areas surrounding deltas.