Sphenacodontidae

Sphenacodontidae is an extinct family of carnivorous sphenacodontian synapsids, known from the latest Carboniferous to the early Middle Permian. Primitive forms were generally small, but during the later part of the early Permian these animals grew progressively larger, to become the apex predators of terrestrial environments. Sphenacodontid fossils are so far known only from North America and Europe, and possibly South America.

Sphenacodontidae

H. Zell · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
SphenacodontoideaPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Amniota

Time the record covers

At least 20 million years on record.

The record covers at least 303.7 Mya to 283.3 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 307 Mya to 251.902 Mya.

Carboniferous — about 5 of 137 occurrencesCarboniferousPermian — about 132 of 137 occurrencesPermianEarly Triassic — about 0 of 137 occurrences308–306 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences306–304 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences304–302 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences302–300 Mya — about 3 occurrences300–299 Mya — about 2 occurrences299–297 Mya — about 6 occurrences297–295 Mya — about 6 occurrences295–293 Mya — about 7 occurrences293–291 Mya — about 8 occurrences291–289 Mya — about 12 occurrences289–287 Mya — about 14 occurrences287–285 Mya — about 13 occurrences285–283 Mya — about 12 occurrences283–281 Mya — about 10 occurrences281–279 Mya — about 10 occurrences279–278 Mya — about 10 occurrences278–276 Mya — about 10 occurrences276–274 Mya — about 7 occurrences274–272 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences272–270 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences270–268 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences268–266 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences266–264 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences264–262 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences262–260 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences260–258 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences258–257 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences257–255 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences255–253 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences253–251 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences303.7 Mya283.3 Mya308 Mya251 Mya

137 occurrences of Sphenacodontidae on record, most of them in the Permian. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

137 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

33 formations

Vale — 32.13°N, 99.75°WVale — 33.73°N, 99.56°WVale — 33.76°N, 99.55°WVale — 33.60°N, 99.25°WVale — 32.23°N, 99.83°WVale — 33.67°N, 99.78°WArroyo — 33.77°N, 99.22°WArroyo — 33.76°N, 99.14°WArroyo — 33.70°N, 99.27°WArroyo — 33.97°N, 99.20°WBelle Plains — 33.74°N, 98.90°WBelle Plains — 33.69°N, 99.02°WBelle Plains — 33.87°N, 98.84°WWaggoner Ranch — 33.69°N, 99.02°WWaggoner Ranch — 33.82°N, 98.69°WWaggoner Ranch — 33.73°N, 99.09°WWaggoner Ranch — 33.76°N, 99.14°WAbo — 35.77°N, 106.69°WAbo — 34.64°N, 107.18°WAbo — 33.07°N, 107.22°WAbo — 34.30°N, 106.54°WAbo/Cutler — 35.72°N, 106.78°WAbo/Cutler — 36.18°N, 106.67°WAbo/Cutler — 36.16°N, 106.64°WAbo/Cutler — 34.17°N, 106.75°WAdmiral — 33.60°N, 98.63°WAdmiral — 33.82°N, 98.69°WAdmiral — 33.60°N, 98.92°WGarber — 36.77°N, 97.77°WGarber — 34.30°N, 98.60°WGarber — 36.66°N, 97.69°WCutler — 37.17°N, 109.85°WCutler — 37.03°N, 110.06°WCutler — 36.16°N, 106.65°WCutler — 36.31°N, 106.35°WWellington — 36.16°N, 97.34°WWellington — 36.35°N, 97.43°WWellington — 36.74°N, 97.42°WWellington — 36.30°N, 97.30°WPutnam — 33.60°N, 98.63°WSan Angelo — 33.66°N, 99.94°WSan Angelo — 33.69°N, 99.95°WSan Angelo — 33.64°N, 99.93°WEl Cobre Canyon — 36.16°N, 106.66°WEl Cobre Canyon — 36.14°N, 106.62°WPetrolia — 33.69°N, 99.02°WPetrolia — 33.64°N, 98.90°WNocona — 33.68°N, 98.70°WNocona — 33.72°N, 98.34°WNocona — 33.83°N, 98.09°WLueders — 33.75°N, 99.12°WLueders — 33.75°N, 99.15°WClyde — 33.77°N, 99.10°WHennessey — 34.19°N, 98.79°WHennessey — 35.95°N, 97.58°WArcher City — 33.58°N, 98.65°WArcher City — 33.67°N, 98.69°WArroyo del Agua — 36.12°N, 106.66°WArroyo del Agua — 36.12°N, 106.64°WSlaný — 50.21°N, 13.68°ELaborcita — 33.08°N, 106.08°WGarber Sandstone — 34.58°N, 98.85°WGarber Sandstone — 34.53°N, 98.89°WBead Mountain — 34.13°N, 98.62°W

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The named rock units Sphenacodontidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 9 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 6 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Sphenacodontidae and its relatives

Permian

Where Sphenacodontidae and its relatives were recorded in the Permian.

Found in the same rock

340 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 84 sites for Sphenacodontidae, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

47 references

Each of the 137 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 35 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Sphenacodontidae

Credit
H. Zell
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan was found. Smithsonian Open Access, MorphoSource and Sketchfab were all searched.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itSphenacodontoidea through timeFormations of the PermianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Marsh 1878