Brachyprosopus

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Brachyprosopus
Temporal range: Middle Permian, 270–265  Ma
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Brachyprosopus broomi.png
Life Restoration
Scientific classification
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Brachyprosopus

Olson, 1937
Type species
Brachyprosopus broomi
Olson, 1937
Synonyms
  • Chelydontops altidentalisCluver, 1975

Brachyprosopus is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsid from the middle Permian Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone in the Abrahamskraal Formation belonging to the Beaufort Group of the Karoo Basin, South Africa. [1]

Contents

Chelydontops Cluver, 1975, based on a skull from the Karoo Basin of South Africa, is a junior synonym. [1]

Description

Brachyprosopus is similar to Endothiodon , Niassodon , and Pristerodon in having absence of anterior median palatal ridges; maxillary tooth rows bounded laterally by a shelf; unfused vomers; raised margins of the interpterygoid vacuity; broad intertemporal region; pineal boss; dentary tables; and a long, wide posterior dentary sulcus that extends posterior to the dentary teeth. However, it can be distinguished by the autapomorphy of a curled lateral edge of the squamosal that forms a lateral wall of the external adductor fossa. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abrahamskraal Formation</span> Geological formation of the Beaufort Group in South Africa

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teekloof Formation</span> Late Permian geological formation that forms part of the Beaufort Group of South Africa

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Thliptosaurus is an extinct genus of small kingoriid dicynodont from the latest Permian period of the Karoo Basin in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It contains the type and only known species T. imperforatus. Thliptosaurus is from the upper Daptocephalus Assemblage Zone, making it one of the youngest Permian dicynodonts known, living just prior to the Permian mass extinction. It also represents one of the few small bodied dicynodonts to exist at this time, when most other dicynodonts had large body sizes and many small dicynodonts had gone extinct. The unexpected discovery of Thliptosaurus in a region of the Karoo outside of the historically sampled localities suggests that it may have been part of an endemic local fauna not found in these historic sites. Such under-sampled localities may contain 'hidden diversities' of Permian faunas that are unknown from traditional samples. Thliptosaurus is also unusual for dicynodonts as it lacks a pineal foramen, suggesting that it played a much less important role in thermoregulation than it did for other dicynodonts.

Phorcys is an extinct genus of gorgonopsian that lived during the Middle Permian period (Guadalupian) of what is now South Africa. It is known from two specimens, both portions from the back of the skull, that were described and named in 2022 as a new genus and species P. dubei by Christian Kammerer and Bruce Rubidge. Phorcys was recovered from the lowest strata of the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone (AZ) of the Beaufort Group, making it one of the oldest known gorgonopsians in the fossil record—second only to fragmentary remains of an indeterminate specimen from the older underlying Eodicynodon Assemblage Zone. The generic name is from Phorcys of Greek mythology, the father of the Gorgons from which the gorgonopsians are named after, and refers to its status as one of the oldest representatives of the group.

<i>Nyaphulia</i> Extinct genus of dicynodonts

Nyaphulia is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsid from the middle Permian of South Africa, containing only the type species N. oelofseni. The generic name is in honour of John Nyaphuli of the National Museum of Bloemfontein, who contributed extensively to South African palaeontology and discovered the holotype specimen of Nyaphulia in 1982. Nyaphulia was initially named as a second species of the basal dicynodont Eodicynodon by Professor Bruce Rubidge in 1990 as E. oelofseni, named after his mentor in palaeontology and geology Dr. Burger Oelofsen.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Angielczyk, Kenneth D; Rubidge, Bruce S; Day, Michael O; Lin, Florence (2016). "A reevaluation of Brachyprosopus broomi and Chelydontops altidentalis, dicynodonts (Therapsida, Anomodontia) from the middle Permian Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone of the Karoo Basin, South Africa". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 36 (2): e1078342. Bibcode:2016JVPal..36E8342A. doi:10.1080/02724634.2016.1078342. S2CID   130520407.