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104 / Paleozoic
Hylonomus
Hylonomus lyelli
This tiny insect hunter belonged to an early generation of vertebrates freed from laying eggs in water.
Structured expansion · editorial review pending
- Time range
- About 315 million years ago
- Final stage
- Late Carboniferous
- Geographic range
- Euramerican coal forests · Present-day Canada
01 / ANSWER FIRST
What was Hylonomus?
This archive records Hylonomus under the scientific name Hylonomus lyelli, with an age of About 315 million years ago and a range of Euramerican coal forests · Present-day Canada. This tiny insect hunter belonged to an early generation of vertebrates freed from laying eggs in water.
Hylonomus was about twenty centimeters long and resembled a slender lizard, though true lizards lay far in the future. It chased arthropods among lycopsid litter and fallen wood.
02 / QUICK FACTS
Hylonomus at a glance
- Scientific name
- Hylonomus lyelli
- Age
- About 315 million years ago
- Last recorded stage
- Late Carboniferous
- Known range
- Euramerican coal forests · Present-day Canada
- Broad group
- reptile
- Archive era
- Paleozoic
- Habitat signals
- Forest
- Documented regions
- North America
03 / ANATOMY
How was Hylonomus built?
Overall body plan
This tiny insect hunter belonged to an early generation of vertebrates freed from laying eggs in water.
Skull and feeding apparatus
The available record is interpreted through preserved proportions, attachment surfaces, wear and comparison with related organisms. For Hylonomus, those observations must be separated from features added only for visual reconstruction.
Axial skeleton and locomotion
Hylonomus was about twenty centimeters long and resembled a slender lizard, though true lizards lay far in the future. It chased arthropods among lycopsid litter and fallen wood.
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 Hylonomus.
04 / DIET & BEHAVIOUR
How did Hylonomus live?
Hylonomus was about twenty centimeters long and resembled a slender lizard, though true lizards lay far in the future. It chased arthropods among lycopsid litter and fallen wood. 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 temperature, nesting habitat, prey or vegetation, and connected landscapes. 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 Hylonomus live?
This archive currently lists About 315 million years ago; Euramerican coal forests · Present-day Canada. 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
Euramerican coal forests · Present-day Canada. This boundary can change when specimens are reidentified or new localities are published.
Time window
About 315 million years ago, with the final recorded stage listed as Late Carboniferous. 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 Forest. These labels help explore related records; a habitat reconstruction requires evidence from individual localities.
07 / FOSSIL EVIDENCE
What evidence supports reconstructions of Hylonomus?
Primary record
Fossils trapped in hollow tree stumps at Joggins preserve small skeletons, teeth and feet.
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 Hylonomus within About 315 million years ago and Euramerican coal forests · Present-day Canada. 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 Hylonomus disappear?
Fragmenting and drying coal forests drove the diversification and turnover of early amniotes.
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
Hylonomus FAQ
What was Hylonomus?
This archive records Hylonomus under the scientific name Hylonomus lyelli, with an age of About 315 million years ago. This tiny insect hunter belonged to an early generation of vertebrates freed from laying eggs in water.
When did Hylonomus live?
The current archive range is About 315 million years ago; its youngest recorded stage is Late Carboniferous.
Where was Hylonomus found?
The archive currently lists Euramerican coal forests · Present-day Canada. Species-level locality assignments and the full geographic range still require source-specific review.
How do scientists know about Hylonomus?
Fossils trapped in hollow tree stumps at Joggins preserve small skeletons, teeth and feet.
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