Ambedus is an extinct genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of diadectid reptiliomorph. Fossils have been found from the Early Permian Dunkard Group

Dunkard Group

The Permian Dunkard Group is an area of rock, Early Permian in age, in the south of Ohio, southwestern Pennsylvania, West Virginia and the hilltops of the Georges Creek Basin of Maryland. It is found primarily in Washington County. It is notable for being one of the few areas of Permian sediment...

 of Monroe County

Monroe County, Ohio

Monroe County is a county located in the state of Ohio. As of the 2010 census, the population was 14,642. Its county seat is Woodsfield and is named for James Monroe, Secretary of State when the county was formed and later President of the United States....

, Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

. The type species

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

 A. pusillus was named in 2004. The genus name comes from the Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 word ambedo meaning "to nibble", in reference to its herbivorous diet. The specific name pusillus means "tiny" in Latin.

Description

Ambedus is a small diadectid known only from maxilla

Maxilla

The maxilla is a fusion of two bones along the palatal fissure that form the upper jaw. This is similar to the mandible , which is also a fusion of two halves at the mental symphysis. Sometimes The maxilla (plural: maxillae) is a fusion of two bones along the palatal fissure that form the upper...

e and dentary bones. It is considered the most primitive diadectid because unlike other forms it had a small, shallow lower jaw and many simple, conical teeth. Later diadectids have deep jaws with few teeth and forward-projecting incisiform

Incisor

Incisors are the first kind of tooth in heterodont mammals. They are located in the premaxilla above and mandible below.-Function:...

s at the tips of the jaws for consuming plant material.

Paleobiology

The holotype

Holotype

A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...

 specimen of Ambedus was found from an outcrop of the Early Permian the Greene Formation on Clark Hill in Monroe County, Ohio. It was found alongside fossils of the lungfish

Lungfish

Lungfish are freshwater fish belonging to the Subclass Dipnoi. Lungfish are best known for retaining characteristics primitive within the Osteichthyes, including the ability to breathe air, and structures primitive within Sarcopterygii, including the presence of lobed fins with a well-developed...

 Sagenodus

Sagenodus

Sagenodus is an extinct genus of prehistoric sarcopterygian or lobe-finned fish.-See also:* Sarcopterygii* List of sarcopterygians* List of prehistoric bony fish...

, the temnospondyl amphibian

Amphibian

Amphibians , are a class of vertebrate animals including animals such as toads, frogs, caecilians, and salamanders. They are characterized as non-amniote ectothermic tetrapods...

 Trimerorhachis

Trimerorhachis

Trimerorhachis is an extinct genus of dvinosaurian temnospondyl within the family Trimerorhachidae. It is known from the Early Permian of Texas. Its fossils are very common in the north-central part of the state. The type species of Trimerorhachis, T. insignis, was named by American paleontologist...

, an embolomere

Embolomeri

The Embolomeri is a suborder of Reptiliomorpha. The Embolomeri first evolved from reptile-like amphibians in the Early Carboniferous...

 reptiliomorph, and the synapsid

Synapsid

Synapsids are a group of animals that includes mammals and everything more closely related to mammals than to other living amniotes. They are easily separated from other amniotes by having an opening low in the skull roof behind each eye, leaving a bony arch beneath each, accounting for their name...

 Ctenospondylus

Ctenospondylus

Ctenospondylus, was a pelycosaur that was about 3 meters long. It lived from Latest Carboniferous to Early Permian. Its fossils were found in the U.S. states of Ohio and Texas. It was a carnivore and preyed upon animals close to its size...

. These animals likely lived alongside a freshwater lake or pond.