Paleothyris was a small, agile, anapsid reptile which lived in the Moscovian (Carboniferous) age of the Late Carboniferous in Nova Scotia.
Description
Paleothyris had sharp teeth and large
, meaning that it was likely a nocturnal hunter. It was about a foot long. It probably fed on
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.
See also
Arjan, Mann, et al. “Carbonodraco Lundi Gen Et Sp. Nov., the Oldest Parareptile, from Linton, Ohio, and New Insights into the Early Radiation of Reptiles.” Royal Society Open Science, 27 Nov. 2019, royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.191191.
