Temporal range: Early Carboniferous–Early Permian, 345.3–294.6 Ma
PreꞒ
Ꞓ
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Life restoration of O. brownriggi
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Clade:
Sarcopterygii
Clade:
Tetrapodomorpha
Order:
†Aistopoda
Family:
†Ophiderpetontidae Schwarz, 1908
Genus:
†Ophiderpeton Huxley, 1866
Species
†O. granulosum
†O. brownriggi
†O. kirktonense
†O. amphiuminum
†O. nanum
†O. vicinum
†O. pectinatum
†O. zieglerianum
Ophiderpeton (from Greek: ὄφῐςóphis, 'snake' and Greek: ἑρπετόνherpetón 'creeper')[1] is an extinct genus of aistopod tetrapodomorphs from the early Carboniferous to the early Permian. Remains of this genus are widespread and were found in Ohio, United States, Ireland, and the Czech Republic (Central Europe).
Like other aistopods, Ophiderpeton was snake-like, without any trace of limbs. Its body was about 70 centimetres (28 in) long, with 230 vertebrae. The skull measured 15 millimetres (0.59 in), and large, forward-facing eyes, suggesting a hunting lifestyle. It probably lived in burrows, feeding on insects, worms, millipedes, and snails.[2][3]
Many species are classified in the genus, and similar animals, Phlegethontia and Sillerpeton, are known. An earlier genus, Lethiscus, is known from the Carboniferous and Early Permian.
^Gadow, Hans Friedrich (1898). A classification of vertebrata, recent and extinct. London Adams and C. Black. p. 75. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
^Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 54. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
^Dixon, Dougal (2007). The world encyclopedia of dinosaurs & prehistoric creatures (Hardback ed.). London: Lorenz. p. 69. ISBN 978-0754817307.
Ophiderpeton (from Greek: ὄφῐς óphis, 'snake' and Greek: ἑρπετόν herpetón 'creeper') is an extinct genus of aistopod tetrapodomorphs from the early Carboniferous...
specialised, with large orbits, and large fenestrae. The primitive form Ophiderpeton has a pattern of dermal bones in the skull similar in respects to the...
(Loxomma, Eogyrinus, Proterogyrinus); others may have been semi-aquatic (Ophiderpeton, Amphibamus, Hyloplesion) or terrestrial (Dendrerpeton, Tuditanus, Anthracosaurus)...
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