#petrolacosaurus

[fuchsiabomb]

carboniferous animal crackers

[dromaeosaurid]

"The dominant land animals in the Permian were the flesh-eating paramammals. All were cold blooded. The larger types such as Dimetrodon and the shellfish eater Edaphosaurus controlled their temperature with heat absorbing 'solar panels'. Others such as Ophiacodon were small enough to warm up quickly in the usual way. Petrolacosaurus and its descendants fed on insects and worms and were the least important vertebrates of the time. Yet it was from these small lizard-like reptiles that the dinosaurs and birds evolved."

From "The Evolution of the Mammals" (1978), by L.B. Halstead. This illustration by Tony Swift.