Edaphosaurus

Edaphosaurus Temporal range: Pennsylvanian to Cisuralian (Gzhelian to Kungurian), 303.4–272.5 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Restored specimen of E. boanerges, AMNH
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Synapsida
Clade:	Sphenacomorpha
Family:	†Edaphosauridae
Genus:	†Edaphosaurus Cope, 1882
Type species
†Edaphosaurus pogonias Cope, 1882
Species
†E. cruciger (Cope, 1878) (originally Dimetrodon) †E. pogonias Cope, 1882 †E. novomexicanus Williston and Case, 1913 †E. boanerges Romer & Price, 1940 †E. colohistion Berman, 1979
Synonyms
Brachycnemius (Williston, 1911) Naosaurus (Cope, 1886)

Edaphosaurus (/ˌɛdəfoʊˈsɔːrəs/, meaning "pavement lizard" for dense clusters of teeth) is a genus of extinct edaphosaurid synapsids that lived in what is now North America and Europe around 303.4 to 272.5 million years ago,^[1] during the Late Carboniferous to Early Permian. American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope first described Edaphosaurus in 1882,^[2] naming it for the "dental pavement" on both the upper and lower jaws, from the Greek edaphos έδαφος ("ground"; also "pavement")^[3] and σαῦρος (sauros) ("lizard").

Edaphosaurus is important as one of the earliest-known, large, plant-eating (herbivorous), amniote tetrapods (four-legged land-living vertebrates). In addition to the large tooth plates in its jaws, the most characteristic feature of Edaphosaurus is a sail on its back. A number of other synapsids from the same time period also have tall dorsal sails, most famously the large apex predator Dimetrodon. However, the sail on Edaphosaurus is different in shape and morphology. The first fossils of Edaphosaurus came from the Texas Red Beds in North America, with later finds in New Mexico, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Ohio. Fragmentary fossils attributed to Edaphosaurus have also been found in eastern Germany in Central Europe.