Description

Diadectes sp.
Reptile
Early Permian
Wellington formation
Waurika site, Jefferson County, Oklahoma, USA

Excellent 20mm x 22mm jaw section with one tooth.

Diadectes occupies a gray area in the classification of animals.  It was once classified as a reptile but now it is considered an amphibian close to the ancestry of reptiles.  However, it lived too late to be a reptile ancestor since it lived alongside early reptiles.  It is likely the discussion of the taxonomic position of this animal is not over.

Diadectes was one of the first large herbivorous vertebrates living at a time when complex ecosystems were starting to be established on land and a time when climates were becoming drier and cooler.

In the past most vertebrate collectors wanted to have a Diadectes tooth or jaw section because it was an early reptile, and one of the first herbivores, but these days, they want an example because of its unusual status in the tree of life.