Edaphosaurus was a sail-backed genus of synapsid that lived during the late Carboniferous and early Permian periods in what is now the famous Texas Red Beds in North America. Remains have also been found in West Virginia, Ohio, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. Fragmentary remains found in Germany have also been attributed to Edaphosaurus. The Texas Red Beds are also known for the remains of the previously reviewed amphibian, Eryops, and the sail-backed Dimetrodon. Perhaps it is because it lived alongside the carnivorous and menacing Dimetrodon that Edaphosaurus has not achieved the same level of pop culture recognition, but it is arguably a more interesting animal. Indeed, Edaphosaurus is one of the oldest, large plant-eating tetrapods known to science.
For those of us with an appreciation for the “pavement lizard” (so named because of its dense clusters of teeth) the few toys representing it are precious and coveted things. For decent, scientifically informed figures, there’s really only two. The Bullyland and CollectA Edaphosaurus. After a short production between 2003-2007 the Bullyland figure became a highly sought after and hard to find piece and it was only when CollectA released one in 2019 that we had an alternative to it. Of course, cruder and more primitive toys of it exist too, including a Starlux figurine and a recent Mattel toy, with the latter being Edaphosaurus in name only. Today we’re looking at the Deiner Edaphosaurus, which is surprisingly decent for what it is, and is one of the highlights in Deiner’s line of prehistoric rubber animals. It is much better than Deiner’s Dimetrodon, which is really just a generic lizard with a sail.
Deiner’s Edaphosaurus comes in two sizes and mine is the smaller of the two, measuring only 2” (5.08 cm) long and standing about 1” (2.54 cm) tall to the top of the sail. Edaphosaurus reached a length of up to 11.5’ (3.5 meters) and using that length puts this Deiner toy at 1/64 in scale.
This Edaphosaurus exhibits the small, rounded head of the genus, complete with a mouth, nostrils, and eyes, and deep skin folds around the neck. The body is lizard-like, with short, robust limbs. The skin is detailed with bumpy scales. The sail is short over the neck and tallest over the hips and gradually sweeps backwards as we move from front-to-back. The individual neural spines are visible and small bumps sculpted along them represent the bony tubercles that the actual Edaphosaurus had along the length of its spines. The purpose of these “cross-bars” is unknown, but they help differentiate Edaphosaurus from Dimetrodon, who did not have these structures.
My copy of the Edaphosaurus is bubblegum pink but this toy came in many different colors. The toy is rubbery and pliable, but I’m not sure if it is an actual working eraser and am not interested in testing it out. The year 1987 and Diener are stamped on the right side of the tail.
Among the very few Edaphosaurus toys that exist, the Diener toy is actually one of the best, only outdone by those from Bullyland and CollectA, and comparing it to them seems unfair. Even if you don’t collect Diener erasers, this Edaphosaurus is well worth seeking out to add to a shelf of Paleozoic critters and would look right at home amongst other vintage, monochrome toys. This Edaphosaurus and the previously reviewed Eryops were the only two Diener toys that I wanted in my collection but since I bought them in a lot you can expect more Diener reviews in the near future.
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