Paleothyris
Extinct genus of reptiles
title: "Paleothyris" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["carboniferous-reptiles", "carboniferous-reptiles-of-north-america", "transitional-fossils", "protorothyrididae", "prehistoric-reptile-genera", "fossil-taxa-described-in-1969", "paleozoic-life-of-nova-scotia"] description: "Extinct genus of reptiles" topic_path: "general/carboniferous-reptiles" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleothyris" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Extinct genus of reptiles ::
| fossil_range = | image = Paleothyris Deep Time.jpg | image_caption = Paleothyris acadiana fossil | genus = Paleothyris | parent_authority = Carroll, 1969 | species = acadiana | authority = Carroll, 1969
Paleothyris is an extinct genus of small reptiliomorph which lived in the Moscovian (Carboniferous) age of the Late Carboniferous in Nova Scotia.
Description
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Paleothyris_02.png" caption="Life restoration"] ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Paleothyris.svg" caption="Skull reconstruction" alt="Skull reconstruction of Paleothyris"] ::
Paleothyris had sharp teeth and large eyes, meaning that it was likely a nocturnal hunter. It was about a foot long. It probably fed on insects 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.
References
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.
References
- Carroll, Robert L.. (January 1969). "A Middle Pennsylvanian Captorhinomorph, and the Interrelationships of Primitive Reptiles". Journal of Paleontology.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::