Archaeothyris is an extinct genus of ophiacodontid synapsid that lived during the Late Carboniferous and is known from Nova Scotia. Dated to 306 million years ago, Archaeothyris, along with a more poorly known synapsid called Echinerpeton, are the oldest undisputed synapsids known.[3] The name means ancient window (Greek), and refers to the opening in the skull, the temporal fenestra, which indicates this is an early synapsid. Protoclepsydrops also from Nova Scotia is slightly older but is known by very fragmentary materials.[4]
Archaeothyris florensis
^Reisz, R., 1972. Pelycosaurian reptiles from the middle Pennsylvanian of North America. Harvard University.
^Reisz, R., 1972. Pelycosaurian reptiles from the middle Pennsylvanian of North America. Harvard University.
^Falcon-Lang, H.J., Benton, M.J. & Stimson, M. (2007): Ecology of early reptiles inferred from Lower Pennsylvanian trackways. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 164; no. 6; pp 1113-1118. article
^"Archaeothyris florensis". Palaeocritti. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
Hylonomus and Petrolacosaurus (both of which resemble Archaeothyris) were found. Archaeothyris lived in what is now Nova Scotia, about 306 million years...
extinct family of early synapsids from the Carboniferous and Permian. Archaeothyris, and Clepsydrops were among the earliest ophiacodontids, appearing in...
being the predecessor of the other early synapsid Clepsydrops. Like Archaeothyris, Protoclepsydrops resembled a modern lizard in superficial appearance...
earliest sauropsid reptiles (Hylonomus), and the earliest known synapsid (Archaeothyris). Synapsids quickly became huge and diversified in the Permian, only...
Terrestrially adapted synapsids, the predecessors of the mammal lineage, like Archaeothyris were among the groups who quickly recovered after the collapse....
name. Typically, they are considered synapsids that evolved from an Archaeothyris-like synapsid in the Late Carboniferous. Although some studies from...
from the Pennsylvanian time of the Carboniferous, possibly resembling Archaeothyris, the earliest known synapsid. The caseasaurs were abundant during the...
their nests in the hollow tree stumps. Fossils of the basal pelycosaur Archaeothyris and the basal diapsid Petrolacosaurus are also found in the same region...
descended. The earliest known fossils of synapsids and sauropsids (such as Archaeothyris and Hylonomus, respectively) date from about 320 to 315 million years...
primitive synapsids from the early Late Carboniferous that was related to Archaeothyris. The name means 'hour-glass appearance' (Greek klepsydra = "hourglass"...
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