Edaphosaurus

Edaphosaurus, ; meaning "pavement lizard" for dense clusters of teeth) is a genus of extinct edaphosaurid synapsid that lived around 300 to 280 million years ago, during the late Carboniferous to early Permian periods. The American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope first described Edaphosaurus in 1882, naming it for the "dental pavement" on both the upper and lower jaws, from the Greek edaphos/εδαφος ("ground"; also "pavement") and σαυρος/sauros ("lizard").

Description
Edaphosaurus species measured from 0.5 metres (1.6 ft) to almost 3.5 metres (11.5 ft) in length and weighed over 300 kilograms (660lb). In keeping with the tiny head, the cervical vertebrae are reduced in length, while the dorsal vertebrae are massive, the tail is deep, the limbs are short and robust and the ribs form a wide ribcage. Like most herbivores, Edaphosaurus would have had a capacious gut and symbiotic bacteria to aid in the breakdown of cellulose and other indigestible plant material. Like its more famous relative Dimetrodon, Edaphosaurus had a sail-like fin that was supported by bones of the vertebral column. Edaphosaurus differs from Dimetrodon in having cross-bars on the spines that supported its fin.