Paleothyris

Paleothyris was a small, agile, anapsid romeriidan reptile which lived in the Moscovian (Carboniferous) age of the Late Carboniferous in Nova Scotia.

Paleothyris Temporal range: Moscovian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Paleothyris acadiana fossil
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Genus:	†Paleothyris Carroll, 1969
Species:	†P. acadiana
Binomial name
†Paleothyris acadiana Carroll, 1969

Description

Life restoration

Skull reconstruction

Paleothyris had sharp teeth and large eyes, meaning that it was likely a nocturnal hunter. It was about a foot long. It probably fed on insects and other smaller animals found on the floor of its forest home. Paleothyris was an early sauropsid, yet it still had some features that were more primitive, more labyrinthodont-like than reptile-like, especially its skull, which lacked fenestrae, holes found in the skulls of most modern reptiles and mammals.^[1]

See also

• Westlothiana
• Casineria
• Hylonomus
• Petrolacosaurus
• Archaeothyris
• Carboniferous tetrapods