Elph Temporal range: Late Permian, | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Synapsida |
Clade: | Therapsida |
Suborder: | † Anomodontia |
Clade: | † Dicynodontia |
Family: | † Elphidae |
Subfamily: | † Elphinae |
Genus: | † Elph Kurkin, 1999 |
Species: | †E. borealis |
Binomial name | |
†Elph borealis Kurkin, 1999 | |
Elph (an arbitrary combination of letters [1] ) is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsids from Russia. Four specimens have been found from the Sokolki Assemblage in European Russia, representing a fauna that dates back to the Late Permian. [2] The holotype, PIN 2353/37, was originally considered a juvenile specimen due to its small size (with a total skull length of 106 mm), before being recognized as a mature individual. [1]
Elph was a small herbivore that lived alongside carnivorous akidnognathids and inostranceviids, as well as larger herbivores like Dicynodon and pareiasaurids. [3] The type species E. borealis was named in 1999. Elph has a short snout and tusks and is closely related to Interpresosaurus and Katumbia . [4]