Question 1

How do you say Edaphosaurus?

Accepted Answer

Edaphosaurus is pronounced eh-DAFF-oh-SORE-us. Break it into four parts: eh, DAFF, oh, and SORE-us. The stress falls on the second and fourth syllables. A good memory trick is to think: 'A DAFFY dinosaur that is SORE.' That rhythm matches the pronunciation almost perfectly, and once you have it, you will never forget it.

Question 2

What does Edaphosaurus mean?

Accepted Answer

The name Edaphosaurus comes from two Ancient Greek words. Edaphos means ground or pavement, and sauros means lizard. Together the name means something like pavement lizard. Paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope chose that name in 1882 because the fossil's teeth formed a flat, cobblestone-like surface inside the mouth, resembling a pavement of small tiles rather than the pointed teeth of a meat-eater.

Question 3

Was Edaphosaurus a dinosaur?

Accepted Answer

No, Edaphosaurus was not a dinosaur at all. It was a synapsid, which means it belongs to the group of animals that eventually evolved into mammals, including humans. Edaphosaurus lived around 280 to 300 million years ago, which is roughly 40 to 50 million years before the first dinosaurs ever appeared on Earth. So calling it a dinosaur is actually a huge compliment in the wrong direction: it is far older and in some ways far more significant.

Question 4

What did Edaphosaurus eat?

Accepted Answer

Edaphosaurus was almost certainly a herbivore, making it one of the earliest large plant-eating land vertebrates ever discovered. Its teeth formed broad, flat, pavement-like surfaces on the roof and floor of its mouth, ideal for grinding and crushing tough plant material. Some scientists think it may also have eaten hard-shelled invertebrates like early mollusks. Its wide, barrel-shaped body contained a large digestive system, similar to plant-eating mammals today, which supports the idea that it processed large amounts of low-nutrition plant food.

Question 5

What was the big sail on its back for?

Accepted Answer

The tall sail on Edaphosaurus's back was supported by dramatically elongated spines growing upward from its backbone. Scientists believe it was most likely used for thermoregulation, meaning controlling body temperature. By angling the sail toward the sun in the morning, the animal could warm its blood faster than a sailless competitor, giving it an energy advantage. The sail may also have played a role in display or species recognition. What makes Edaphosaurus's sail unique are the strange horizontal cross-bars sticking out from each spine, a feature seen in no other animal in the history of life on Earth.

Question 6

Is Edaphosaurus related to Dimetrodon?

Accepted Answer

Edaphosaurus and Dimetrodon both had large back sails and lived in the same general time period and environments, so people often assume they are closely related. They are actually only distantly related within the broader synapsid family tree. Edaphosaurus belongs to the family Edaphosauridae, while Dimetrodon belongs to Sphenacodontidae. Their sails evolved independently, which scientists call convergent evolution, the same solution evolving in unrelated animals. One big difference: Dimetrodon was a fierce predator that may have eaten Edaphosaurus.

Question 7

How big was Edaphosaurus?

Accepted Answer

Edaphosaurus could grow to around 11 feet, or about 3.5 meters, in length and may have weighed up to 660 pounds, or roughly 300 kilograms. That is about as long as a large pickup truck bed and as heavy as a grand piano. Its sail could add considerable height on top of that. For a creature living over 280 million years ago, Edaphosaurus was impressively large and was among the biggest land animals of its time.

Question 8

Where did Edaphosaurus live?

Accepted Answer

Edaphosaurus fossils have been found in North America, mainly in Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico, as well as in parts of Europe including the Czech Republic. During the time Edaphosaurus was alive, these landmasses were part of a supercontinent positioned near the equator, so the climate was warm and humid, filled with dense swamp forests and river floodplains. The animal lived from about 303 million years ago in the Late Carboniferous period through to about 272 million years ago in the Early Permian.

Edaphosaurus Pronunciation

Edaphosaurus Picture

What does Edaphosaurus mean?

Name Roots

Fun Facts

Learn More About Edaphosaurus

Related Prehistoric Creatures