Dimetrodon

Dimetrodon is a genus of predatory dinosaurs from the family Sphenacodontidae that lived during the Permian period (298.9-268.8 million years ago).

Dimetrodon reached a length of up to 4.0 meters and was the largest predator of its time. Unlike reptiles, it had two types of teeth (incisors and canines). The most striking feature of the dimetrodon is a sail of skin stretched over the outgrowths of the dorsal vertebrae. Similar sails developed in various prehistoric animals and served as thermoregulators. It is estimated that a 200-kilogram cold-blooded dimetrodon would warm up without a sail from 26 to 32 ° C in 205 minutes, and with a sail - in 80 minutes. According to other versions, the sail was used in mating games, served as a camouflage among the vertical stems of plants or a real sail when sailing. The "sail" developed gradually over the course of life, there are known finds of young dimetrodon individuals with low appendages. Young individuals, apparently, lived in thickets along the shores of reservoirs, adults - lived in forests and plains. Nevertheless, the image of the dimetrodon in popular books against the background of the desert seems unreal - without being a real reptile, it could not survive in a hot, dry area.

Dimetrodons fed on any animals they could overpower. Interestingly, in conditions of approximately equal ratio of biomass of predators and herbivores, the basis of nutrition in some periods could be fish. In 2008, R. Bakker's team found clear signs that dimetrodons were eating freshwater sharks. Perhaps the sharks stayed in drying ponds, where they became victims.