Home Previous Random Next Search
ENNATOSAURUS
(en-nat-o-sore-us)
meaning: "Ninth lizard"
Ennatosaurus
Named By: Efremov in 1956
Time Period: 265-254 Ma
Location: Russia, Krasnoshchel' Formation
Size: Adult size estimated about 4 meters long
Diet: Herbivore
Fossil(s): Remains of several individuals, mostly of juveniles though one adult skull is known
Classification: | Chordata | Synapsida | Pelycosauria | Caseasauria | Caseidae |
About

Ennatosaurus (meaning "the 9th reptile") was a synapsid that lived in European Russia during the Wordian stage of the Permian period. It is included in the synapsid clade Caseidae in the order Pelycosauria.

Ennatosaurus was a herbivore, and may have potentially been aquatic, using its broad forefeet for paddling. Like all caseids, Ennatosaurus had a small head compared to its wide, lizard-like body. Its mouth was lined with blunt, peg-like teeth. It lived alongside other Permian creatures, such as the herbivorous Nyctiphruretus and the carnivorous Biarmosuchus.

The adult size for Ennatosaurus is unknown. Fossil remains show an animal about the size of a cat, but these are likely juvenile specimens, the adults growing to sizes that may have rivaled those of 20-foot (6.1 m)-long cousin, Cotylorhynchus.[1] Ennatosaurus is known from only one fossil site, where several juveniles were buried simultaneously in sand. One adult skull was found among the juvenile skeletons.

Read more about Ennatosaurus at Wikipedia
PaleoCodex is a weekend hack by Saurav Mohapatra