#archaeothyris

[vickysaurus-art]

Two Mazothairos chase off a passing Meganeura in a late Carboniferous swamp, startling a little Archaeothyris. A Sclerocephalus crawls ashore a little ways away, not realising there's a hidden Arthropleura right there.

I've never really drawn paleoart set in the Carboniferous, so I thought I'd start with the very basic 'giant bugs flying around in a swamp' idea. The Sclerocephalus in the lower left corner is actually a very early synapsid, and with this piece being set near the end of the Carboniferous its relatives are about to do very well for themselves indeed when the rainforest collapse happens.

[littledinosaurarms]

archaeothyris/hylonomus the almost-amniote crawling around on some scaly tree ferns looking for apocalyptically huge bugs to eat

Please do not use my art without permission :o

[palaeopedia]

The ancient trees, Archaeothyris (1972)

Phylum : Chordata Family : Ophiacodontidae Genus : Archaeothyris Species : A. florensis

Late Carboniferous (306 Ma)

50 cm long (size)

Nova Scotia, North America (map)

Archaeothyris belonged to the family Ophiacodontidae, a group of early pelycosaurs that evolved early in the Late Carboniferous. It was one of the earliest and most basal synapsids (the group which include mammals).

Unlike Hylonomus and its kin, Archaeothyris was relatively large, measuring 50 centimetres head to tail. It was also more advanced than the early sauropsids, having strong jaws that could open wider than those of the early reptiles. While its sharp teeth were all of the same shape, it did possess a pair of enlarged canines, suggesting that it was a carnivore.

Archaeothyris lived in what is now Nova Scotia, about 306 million years ago in the Carboniferous Period (Pennsylvanian). Nova Scotia at this time was a swamp, similar to today's Everglades in Florida. The "trees" (actually giant club mosses) were very tall, some, such as Lepidodendron, up to 50 metres tall. Archaeothyris and the other early amniotes dwelled on the forest ground.