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169 / Paleozoic
Cotylorhynchus
Cotylorhynchus romeri
A tiny head joined a barrel-shaped giant body whose broad ribs enclosed a vast plant-fermenting digestive system.
Structured expansion · editorial review pending
- Time range
- About 279–272 million years ago
- Final stage
- Early Permian
- Geographic range
- Semiarid western Pangaean river plains · Present-day Texas and Oklahoma
01 / ANSWER FIRST
What was Cotylorhynchus?
This archive records Cotylorhynchus under the scientific name Cotylorhynchus romeri, with an age of About 279–272 million years ago and a range of Semiarid western Pangaean river plains · Present-day Texas and Oklahoma. A tiny head joined a barrel-shaped giant body whose broad ribs enclosed a vast plant-fermenting digestive system.
Cotylorhynchus was a large herbivorous stem synapsid more than five meters long. Short heavy limbs supported its mass, blunt teeth cropped low vegetation and an immense abdomen processed food slowly.
02 / QUICK FACTS
Cotylorhynchus at a glance
- Scientific name
- Cotylorhynchus romeri
- Age
- About 279–272 million years ago
- Last recorded stage
- Early Permian
- Known range
- Semiarid western Pangaean river plains · Present-day Texas and Oklahoma
- Broad group
- mammal or synapsid
- Archive era
- Paleozoic
- Habitat signals
- food webs, vegetation, water, climate and competition
- Documented regions
- North America
03 / ANATOMY
How was Cotylorhynchus built?
Overall body plan
A tiny head joined a barrel-shaped giant body whose broad ribs enclosed a vast plant-fermenting digestive system.
Skull, teeth and feeding mechanics
The available record is interpreted through preserved proportions, attachment surfaces, wear and comparison with related organisms. For Cotylorhynchus, those observations must be separated from features added only for visual reconstruction.
Limbs, posture and body mass
Cotylorhynchus was a large herbivorous stem synapsid more than five meters long. Short heavy limbs supported its mass, blunt teeth cropped low vegetation and an immense abdomen processed food slowly.
Growth and individual variation
A single specimen does not define the whole species. Size, maturity, preservation and possible sex differences are considered before anatomical traits are treated as typical of Cotylorhynchus.
04 / DIET & BEHAVIOUR
How did Cotylorhynchus live?
Cotylorhynchus was a large herbivorous stem synapsid more than five meters long. Short heavy limbs supported its mass, blunt teeth cropped low vegetation and an immense abdomen processed food slowly. This ecological reconstruction is strongest where anatomy, associated organisms and the depositional setting point in the same direction.
05 / DIET & BEHAVIOUR
What shaped its ecological limits?
Its populations depended on food webs, vegetation, water, climate and competition. Changes in any one factor did not necessarily cause immediate extinction, but interacting pressures could reduce range, recruitment and resilience.
06 / RANGE & HABITAT
Where and when did Cotylorhynchus live?
This archive currently lists About 279–272 million years ago; Semiarid western Pangaean river plains · Present-day Texas and Oklahoma. Fossil or historical occurrence data describe where evidence has been found, not every place the taxon once occupied. Species-level age and range limits still require source-specific review.
Documented geographic range
Semiarid western Pangaean river plains · Present-day Texas and Oklahoma. This boundary can change when specimens are reidentified or new localities are published.
Time window
About 279–272 million years ago, with the final recorded stage listed as Early Permian. Rock units and dating uncertainty mean the true biological range may extend beyond the known record.
Environmental setting
The archive uses the broad habitat labels food webs, vegetation, water, climate and competition. These labels help explore related records; a habitat reconstruction requires evidence from individual localities.
07 / FOSSIL EVIDENCE
What evidence supports reconstructions of Cotylorhynchus?
Primary record
Associated skeletons preserve the tiny skull, barrel chest, immense hands and feet and joint posture; tooth wear supports herbivory.
Comparative anatomy
Preserved structures are compared with close and functionally similar organisms. The method can constrain posture and function, but analogy alone cannot prove colour, behaviour or soft tissue.
Age and locality
Stratigraphy and occurrence records place Cotylorhynchus within About 279–272 million years ago and Semiarid western Pangaean river plains · Present-day Texas and Oklahoma. Reworked fossils and uncertain provenance are treated cautiously.
Open entity records
Links below connect the archive to available taxonomic and occurrence records. A matching name does not verify every ecological claim, and related-taxon links provide comparison rather than an exact species match.
08 / DISAPPEARANCE & DEBATE
Why did Cotylorhynchus disappear?
Changing Early Permian climate and vegetation reorganized land communities as more mobile synapsids with different feeding strategies expanded.
The last fossil or observation marks the youngest evidence currently known, not necessarily the death of the final individual. Explanations are strongest when timing, environmental change and population biology agree; otherwise the profile preserves uncertainty instead of assigning a single dramatic cause.
09 / FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Cotylorhynchus FAQ
What was Cotylorhynchus?
This archive records Cotylorhynchus under the scientific name Cotylorhynchus romeri, with an age of About 279–272 million years ago. A tiny head joined a barrel-shaped giant body whose broad ribs enclosed a vast plant-fermenting digestive system.
When did Cotylorhynchus live?
The current archive range is About 279–272 million years ago; its youngest recorded stage is Early Permian.
Where was Cotylorhynchus found?
The archive currently lists Semiarid western Pangaean river plains · Present-day Texas and Oklahoma. Species-level locality assignments and the full geographic range still require source-specific review.
How do scientists know about Cotylorhynchus?
Associated skeletons preserve the tiny skull, barrel chest, immense hands and feet and joint posture; tooth wear supports herbivory.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Completed an AI-assisted bilingual audit of the archive record, corrected identified issues and clarified evidence limits; independent editorial review is pending.
- Expanded into a structured bilingual profile with anatomy, ecology, range, evidence, debate and FAQs; independent editorial review is pending.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS