Ophiacodon

Ophiacodon
Temporal range: Late Carboniferous to Early Permian 306–280 Ma
Skeleton of O. mirus in the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Family: †Ophiacodontidae
Genus: †Ophiacodon
Marsh, 1878
Type species
†Ophiacodon mirus
Marsh, 1878
Other species
  • †O. hilli Romer, 1925
  • †O. major Romer & Price, 1940
  • †O. navajovicus (Case, 1907 [originally Dimetrodon navajovicus])
  • †O. retroversus Cope, 1878
  • †O. uniformis Cope, 1878
Synonyms
  • Arribasaurus
  • Dinopeles
  • Diopaeus
  • Poliosaurus
  • Theropleura
  • Therosaurus Huene, 1925 (preoccupied)
  • Winfeldia

Ophiacodon (meaning "snake tooth") is an extinct genus of synapsid belonging to the family Ophiacodontidae that lived from the Late Carboniferous to the Early Permian in North America and Europe. The genus was named along with its type species O. mirus by paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh in 1878 and currently includes five other species.[1] As an ophiacodontid, Ophiacodon is one of the most basal synapsids and is close to the evolutionary line leading to mammals.[2]

Life restoration of Ophiacodon retroversus
  1. ^ Felice, R. N. & Angielczyk, K. D. (2014). "Was Ophiacodon (Synapsida, Eupelycosauria) a Swimmer? A Test Using Vertebral Dimensions". Early Evolutionary History of the Synapsida. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. p. 25. doi:10.1007/978-94-007-6841-3_3. ISBN 978-94-007-6840-6.
  2. ^ Maddin, H.C.; Evans, D.C. & Reisz, R.R. (2006). "An Early Permian varanodontine varanopid (Synapsida: Eupelycosauria) from the Richards Spur Locality, Oklahoma". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 26 (4): 957–966. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2006)26[957:aepvvs]2.0.co;2.