"Edaphosaurus" is important as one of the earliest-known, large, plant-eating (herbivorous), amniote tetrapods (four-legged land-living vertebrates). In addition to the large tooth plates in its jaws, the most characteristic feature of "Edaphosaurus" is a sail on its back. A number of other synapsids from the same time period also have tall dorsal sails, most famously the large apex predator "Dimetrodon". However, the sail on "Edaphosaurus" is different in shape and morphology. The first fossils of "Edaphosaurus" came from the Texas Red Beds in North America, with later finds in New Mexico, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Ohio. Fragmentary fossils attributed to "Edaphosaurus" have also been found in eastern Germany in Central Europe.