Petrolacosaurus

Petrolacosaurus Temporal range: Pennsylvanian, 302 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Petrolacosaurus kansensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Subclass:	Diapsida
Order:	Araeoscelida
Family:	Petrolacosauridae Peabody, 1952
Genus:	Petrolacosaurus Lane, 1945
Species:	P. kansensis
Binomial name
Petrolacosaurus kansensis

Petrolacosaurus was a small, 40-centimetre (16 in) long, reptile, and the earliest diapsid known. It lived during the late Carboniferous period. The strata where it was found in Kansas, USA, are of Pennsylvanian age, and are approximately 302 million years old.^[1] The prehistoric reptile's diet may have consisted mainly of small insects. Petrolacosaurus had distinctive canine-like secondary-sized teeth, a trait found primarily in therapsids, and later in mammals. Its fossils were found in Kansas, USA.^[2]

References

1. 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
2. Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 82. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.

• Haines, Tim; Paul Chambers (2006). The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life. Richmond Hill, Ontario: Firefly Books. p. 36. ISBN 1-55407-125-9.