Gordodon, a new pelycosaur with gorgeous remains

[Halichoeres]

Meet Gordodon (Sp. "fat" and Gr. "tooth") from the Early Permian of New Mexico.



Let's hope we don't have to wait as long for a figure as we waited for its cousin Edaphosaurus!

Open access: https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2018/2343-new-eupelycosaur?fbclid=IwAR3i3xLwFEgS2UHQOPaElD5PrmuntIre8T8txGAI8LWspls2HmZsA3jhSHM

[CityRaptor]

There really is a habit of naming those sail-backed Pelycosaurs after their teeth.

As for a figure? Well, companies might think that it is too similar to Edaphosaurus, which in turn might be considered too similar to Dimetrodon for them, which would explain the low number of figures.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

stunning fossil there....wow

[Faelrin]

Really good preservation there (even if a portion of the creature seems to be missing). Assuming that is the skin around the sail (almost looks like it has scales too. Hard for me to tell. I haven't read the paper yet, so I don't know if they cover that), then I wonder what was going on with that area around the head. Really fascinating to see another sail backed creature from the Permian too. Wonder what it was that led to this (I mean what was causing to be selected for in the first place). Definitely a highlight find of the year (at least for me).

[amargasaurus cazaui]

Most of the lighter colored portions of the fossil are scratching caused by the abrasive tools used to clean the fossil and highlight the bones

[Halichoeres]

On thing that's cool about this fossil is that it shows a pronounced gap (called a diastema) between the cutting front teeth and the chewing back teeth, similar to a hadrosaur, rabbit, or camel. This is the earliest example of that feature in an herbivorous tetrapod. There are some really nice images of this feature in the paper.