Dimetrodons were unusual-looking organisms that inhabited the earth hundreds of millions of years ago. Today, dimetrodons are known only from their teeth and bones, which have been preserved as fossils. Dimetrodon teeth were designed to puncture and shear, according to the Enchanted Learning website in "Dimetrodon." The scientists who study them, thus, believe that dimetrodons were carnivores whose diet was composed of meat.
Description
If you would like to imagine a dimetrodon, picture a 500-lb., 11-foot-long lizard with an oversized head, powerful jaws and sharp teeth, says the Paleopedia website in "The Prehistoric Encyclopedia." Also, picture this lizard with a large sail on its back, maybe six or so feet tall. According to the Dinosaur Timeline Gallery in "Dimetrodon grandis," dimetrodons were mammal-like reptiles and apex predators, or the largest predators on earth at the time.
Age
Dimetrodons lived on earth between 280 and 245 million years ago, during a period of time that scientists call the Permian Period. Some people think that dimetrodons looked like dinosaurs, but they lived on earth before dinosaurs and they share no close relatives. In fact, states "Dimetrodon grandis," dimetrodons are believed to be more like the mammals on earth today than any dinosaur.
First Set of Teeth
The word dimetrodon, when translated from Latin, means "two measures tooth," and this refers to their two different kinds of teeth. According to "Dimetrodon," the organisms had one kind of tooth that was long, narrow and came to a blunt point. These teeth were located in the front of their mouth and were probably used clamp down upon and puncture the skin of the creatures they ate.
Second Set of Teeth
"Dimetrodon" states that the organism's second type of teeth was its canines, located in the back of its mouth. These canines had elongate, sharp edges that were perfect for shearing and cutting. Scientists hypothesize that these teeth allowed dimetrodons to shear flesh from the organisms they consumed.
Possible Food Sources
According to "Dimetrodon grandis," scientists presume that dimetrodons consumed other mammal-like reptiles living on earth during the Permian Period of the earth's history. They also postulate that dimetrodons ate small reptiles as well as insects.
Member Comments