Dimetrodon and Eryops: Showdown at High Noon
I especially enjoy exhibits that I can, as the observer, tell a story, and this one at the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point permits just that.
Standing over the shoulder of #Dimetrodon, one gets a feel for what it would be like weighing the options of charging into a trio of #Eryops. These aren’t the Three Stooges, not even Manny, Moe, and Jack, but rather three in-their-prime #temnospondyls. How lucky are you feeling? :-)
Eryops “Drawn-out face” megacephalus “mega head” Cope, 1877 reached nearly 10’ long and over 400 lbs. Its 2’ skull was loaded with sharp teeth (think giant, angry #frog head) including on the roof of the mouth, that helped to hold slippery prey in place. It lived in water most of its life but had the musculature to come ashore and wreak some havoc. It was a giant for its day.
I like to Eryops sometimes they just wanted a change of diet. Fish, fish, fish, amphibians. Why not some #synapsid or #dicynodont/#therapsid every now and then? Maybe Dimetrodon is on THEIR menu?
#Dimetrodon “two measures of tooth” Cope, 1877, man that guy got around, lived alongside Eryops. Equal to or greater than Eryops in size (some Dimetrodon reached over 13’ in length and nearly 600 lbs!) it would have been a threat to a lone Eryops with its powerful bite full of flesh-separating teeth.
A battle between the two taxa would have been most epic, with the two low-slung predators, each with their own strengths, reasonably matched. Mouthfighters of the vert Old Wesr.
In this scene, providing the 3 were Amigos and worked together, Dimetrodon would simply watch. But if two of ‘em bolted? Perhaps Eryopos would be on the menu! And if they somehow coordinated, Dimetrodon tartare coming right up!
Eryops is a #temnospondyl that lived in the #Permian from 300-280 mya in #Texas and New Mexico. Dimetrodon is a #sphenacodontid #synapsid that lived at the same time and place.
#FossilCrates