Eothyris

Eothyris
Temporal range: Early Permian, 290.1–279.5 Ma[1]
Holotype skull
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Clade: †Caseasauria
Family: †Eothyrididae
Genus: †Eothyris
Romer, 1937
Type species
Eothyris parkeyi
Romer, 1937

Eothyris is a genus of extinct synapsid in the family Eothyrididae from the early Permian. It was a carnivorous insectivorous animal, closely related to Oedaleops. Only the skull of Eothyris, first described in 1937, is known. It had a 6-centimetre-long (2.4-inch) skull, and its total estimated length was 30 centimetres (12 inches).[2][3] Eothyris is one of the most primitive synapsids known and is probably very similar to the common ancestor of all synapsids in many respects. The only known specimen of Eothyris was collected from the Artinskian-lower.[2][4][5]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference fossilworks was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference RP40 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Brocklehurst, Neil; Reisz, Robert R.; Fernandez, Vincent; Fröbisch, Jörg (2016-06-22). "A re-description of 'Mycterosaurus' smithae, an Early Permian eothyridid, and its impact on the phylogeny of pelycosaurian-grade synapsids". PLOS ONE. 11 (6): e0156810. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1156810B. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0156810. PMC 4917111. PMID 27333277.
  5. ^ Angielczyk, Kenneth D. (2009-02-05). "Dimetrodon is not a dinosaur: using tree thinking to understand the ancient relatives of mammals and their evolution". Evolution: Education and Outreach. 2 (2): 257–271. doi:10.1007/s12052-009-0117-4.