In Depth
Alveusdectes is an important discovery as it represents one of the last surviving diadectimorphs to live. Diadectomorphs (those like Diadectes) were reptilomorphs that rose to prominence during the Carboniferous, but they were eventually replaced by therapsids and true reptiles. What the discovery of Alveusdectes tells us is that while their numbers declined during the Permian, some populations managed to hold on until the end of the Permian. At this time a major extinction event gripped the planet wiping out most of the animals, and so far there is no fossil evidence to suggest that diadectomorphs survived this.
Alveusdectes would have been a quadrupedal herbivore that ate plants. Like relative genera, Alveusdectes was well adapted for grinding tough fibrous plants which would have been common in many of the harsh environments of the Permian.
Further Reading
- The last diadectomorph sheds light on Late Palaeozoic tetrapod biogeography. Biology Letters 11:20150100. - J. Liu & G. S. Bever - 2015.
