Dimetrodon – the Hunter With the Large Sail

Dimetrodon lived in North America and Europe in the permian period, about 280-250 million years ago. Despite how it looks Dimetrodon is not actually a dinosaur, but belongs to a group of mammal-like reptiles. This group is also known as synapsids, and are considered to be the ancestors of mammals.

There are different species of Dimetrodon. The biggest ones could be up to 4,6 meters long and weigh up to 250 kg. The smallest species was only about 60 cm long. The bigger species of Dimetrodon are believed to have hunted fish and vertebrates like reptiles and amphibia.

Dimetrodon is easily recognizable by the large sail on its back, but no one is sure what it was used for. Suggestions for its use include to camouflage dimetrodon in the reeds where it lived or to function as an actual sail, the way a sail on a sailboat works when it moves in water. Others believe its use may have been to regulate the body heat, but the real reason is still unknown.

The first skeletons that was found of Dimetrodon had ruined or missing tails, and this lead scientists to believe that dimetrodon had a very short tail.