Glaucosaurus is known only from its holotype, a partial
skull and
jaw. Almost all of the sutures have been obliterated. Nevertheless, there is broad agreement that
Glaucosaurus is not only an
edaphosaurid, but a close relative of
Edaphosaurus itself. All of the known
sphenacodonts are
carnivores except for certain
therapsids.
Glaucosaurus is plainly not a therapsid, e.g. because the lacrimal reaches the
naris, the septo
maxilla is large, there are no
incisors, etc. And it is just as plainly not a carnivore, since it lacks cutting edges on the teeth or canine-like teeth. So, it is very likely to be an edaphosaur. Assuming that this is the case, it is very close to
Edaphosaurus, because only
Glaucosaurus and
Edaphosaurus completely lack both canine teeth and a canine buttress, lack the transverse flange of the pterygoid, and have prefrontal with a ventral (descending) process which is expanded toward the middle of the skull, forming an anterior housing for the eyeball. However,
Glaucosaurus differs from any of the known sorts of
Edaphosaurus in have an incredibly long maxilla, and in the equally extreme length of the prefrontal's ventral process. ==See also==