Description
- Diadectes maximus
- Amphibians
- Lower Permian Age
- Ryan Formation
- Jefferson County, Oklahoma
- This tooth measures approx. 3/8″ long and will come in a 1.25″ Gem Jar as Shown.
Diadectidae is an extinct family of early tetrapods that lived in what is now North America and Europe during the Late Carboniferous and Early Permian, and in Asia during the Late Permian. They were the first herbivorous tetrapods, and also the first fully terrestrial animals to attain large sizes. Footprints indicate that diadectids walked with an erect posture. They were the first to exploit plant material in terrestrial food chains, making their appearance an important stage in both vertebrate evolution and the development of terrestrial ecosystems.
The best known and largest representative of the family is Diadectes, a heavily built animal that attained a maximum length of several metres. Several other genera and various fragmentary fossil remains are also known.
