Dimetrodon sp.
Synapsid
Early Permian
Red Beds Facies
Archer County, Texas, USA

840mm tall vertebra and neural spine.

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Dimetrodon was one of the top predators of the Early Permian at a time when complex ecosystems were becoming established.  This animal represented a new level of land carnivore.  It had serrated teeth of different sizes and shapes which allowed it to attack, kill, and tear apart animals as large as itself.  Earlier predators, armed with simpler teeth of about the same size could feed on only smaller prey they could swallow whole.  Later synapsids would take carnivory to an even higher level.

Here the lovely Vivacia presents this surprisingly delicate relic from before the time of the dinosaurs.