Achelousaurus is a genus of centrosaurine ceratopsid dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now North America, about 74.2 million years ago. The first fossils of Achelousaurus were collected in Montana in 1987, by a team led by Jack Horner, with more finds made in 1989. In 1994, Achelousaurus horneri was described and named by Scott D. Sampson; the generic name means "Achelous lizard", in reference to the Greek deity Achelous, and the specific name refers to Horner. The genus is known from a few specimens consisting mainly of skull material from individuals, ranging from juveniles to adults.
Bradysaurus was a large, early and common pareiasaur. They possessed a covering of armoured scutes, likely serving as defense against their main predators, the gorgonopsians.
Moschops is an extinct genus of therapsids that lived in the Guadalupian epoch, around 265–260 million years ago. They were heavily built plant eaters, and they may have lived partly in water, as hippopotamuses do. They had short, thick heads and might have competed by head-butting each other. Their elbow joints allowed them to walk with a more mammal-like gait rather than crawling. Their remains were found in the Karoo region of South Africa, belonging to the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone. Therapsids, such as Moschops, are synapsids, the dominant land animals in the Permian period, which ended 252 million years ago.
Robertia is an extinct genus of small herbivorous dicynodonts from the Middle to Late Permian of South Africa, between 260 and 265 million years ago. It is a monospecific genus, consisting of the type-species R. broomiana, which was classified by Lieuwe Dirk Boonstra in 1948 and named in honor of Robert Broom for his study of South African mammal-like reptiles.
Tapinocephalus is an extinct genus of large herbivorous dinocephalians that lived during the Middle Permian Period in what is now South Africa. Only the type species, Tapinocephalus atherstonei is now considered valid for this genus.
Gorgonops is an extinct genus of gorgonopsian therapsid, of which it is the type genus. Gorgonops lived during the Late Permian (Wuchiapingian), about 260–254 million years ago in what is now South Africa.
Jonkeria is an extinct genus of dinocephalians. Species were very large and omnivorous, from the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone, Lower Beaufort Group, of the South African Karoo.
Pareiasaurus is an extinct genus of pareiasauromorph reptile from the Permian period. It was a typical member of its family, the pareiasaurids, which take their name from this genus.
Anteosaurus is an extinct genus of large carnivorous dinocephalian synapsid. It lived at the end of the Guadalupian during the Capitanian stage, about 265 to 260 million years ago in what is now South Africa. It is mainly known by cranial remains and few postcranial bones. Measuring 5–6 m (16–20 ft) long and weighing about 600 kg (1,300 lb), Anteosaurus was the largest known carnivorous non-mammalian synapsid and the largest terrestrial predator of the Permian period. Occupying the top of the food chain in the Middle Permian, its skull, jaws and teeth show adaptations to capture large prey like the giants titanosuchids and tapinocephalids dinocephalians and large pareiasaurs.
Struthiocephalus is an extinct genus of dinocephalian therapsids from the Permian of South Africa. It was a large animal, reaching 288 kg (635 lb) in body mass.
Endothiodon is an extinct genus of large dicynodont from the Late Permian. Like other dicynodonts, Endothiodon was an herbivore, but it lacked the two tusks that characterized most other dicynodonts. The anterior portion of the upper and lower jaw are curved upward, creating a distinct beak that is thought to have allowed them to be specialized grazers.
Styracocephalus platyrhynchus (Greek for “spiked-head”) is an extinct genus of dinocephalian therapsid that existed during the Mid-Permian throughout South Africa, but mainly in the Karoo Basin. It is often referred to by its single known species Styracocephalus platyrhynchus. The Dinocephalia clade consisted of the largest land vertebrates and herbivores during the early to mid-Permian. This period is often also referred to as the Guadalupian epoch, approximately 270 to 260 million years ago.
Aelurosaurus is a small, carnivorous, extinct genus of gorgonopsian therapsids from the Late Permian of South Africa. It was discovered in the Karoo Basin of South Africa, and first named by Richard Owen in 1881. It was named so because it appeared to be an ancestor for cat-like marsupials, but not yet a mammal itself. It contains five species, A. felinus, A. whaitsi, A. polyodon, A. wilmanae, and A.? watermeyeri. A. felinus, the type species, is generally well described with established features, while the other four species are not due to their poorly preserved holotypes.
Bullacephalus is an extinct genus of biarmosuchian therapsids belonging to the family Burnetiidae. The type species B. jacksoni was named in 2003. It is known from a relatively complete skull and lower jaw, discovered in the Late Permian Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone of the Beaufort Group of South Africa. This genus of therapsida lived during the Late Permian period, approximately 250 million years ago. The name Bullacephalus comes from the Latin words "bullatus," meaning "bossed" or "knobbed," and "cephalus," meaning "head." This name refers to the distinctive bony knob on the top of the therapsid's skull, which contributes to the history of this genus. This stem based taxon includes Ictidorhinus or Hippasaurs. Bullacephalus can even be characterized as having a, “skull moderately to greatly pachyostotic; swollen boss present above the postorbital bar formed by the postfrontal and postorbital; deep linear sculpturing of the snout; exclusion of the jugal from the lateral temporal fenestra”. These Therapsids have spongy bone skull roof, palatal process of premaxilla are long, diverticulum of naris adding them to the Burnetiamorph. Furthermore, the discovery of Bullacephalus has helped to refine the taxonomic classification of therapsids. Prior to its discovery, there was uncertainty regarding the relationship between different groups of therapsids, particularly the Burnetiamorpha and the Biarmosuchia. However, the distinctive features of Bullacephalus suggest that it is a member of the Burnetiamorpha, and provides a bridge between this group and the Biarmosuchia. The discovery of Bullacephalus has also highlighted the importance of continued exploration and excavation in areas that have yielded few therapsid fossils. The Beaufort Group of South Africa, where Bullacephalus was discovered, has been an important site for therapsid fossils, but much of the area remains unexplored. Further discoveries in this region and other areas around the world may provide new insights into the evolution and diversification of therapsids, as well as other groups of extinct animals. These discoveries will also help to refine our understanding of the history of life on Earth and the processes that have shaped the diversity of organisms that exist today.
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.
Eriphostoma is an extinct genus of gorgonopsian therapsids known from the Middle Permian of Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone, South Africa. It has one known species, Eriphostoma microdon, and was first named by Robert Broom in 1911. It is the oldest known gorgonopsian and among the smallest and most basal members of the clade.
Riebeeckosaurus is an extinct genus of tapinocephalian therapsids from the Guadalupian epoch of Middle Tapinocephalus Zone, lower Beaufort Beds of the Karoo, in South Africa. Only two skulls are known from the type genus.
Criocephalosaurus is an extinct genus of tapinocephalian therapsids that lived in Southern Africa during the Guadalupian epoch of the Permian. They are the latest surviving dinocephalians, extending past the Abrahamskraal Formation into the lowermost Poortjie Member of the Teekloof Formation in South Africa. They are also regarded as the most derived of the dinocephalians, alongside Tapinocephalus, and the most abundant in the fossil record.
Ictidosaurus was a therapsid genus found in the Abrahamskraal Formation of South Africa, which lived during the middle Permian period. Fossils of the type species were found in the Tapinocephalus, and the base of the Eodicynodon assembly zones, of the Karoo Basin. Older classifications of the species, along with many other specimens found in the Iziko South African Museum archives, were originally classified within therocephalian family names, in this case the Ictidosauridae, which has been reclassified as belonging to the Scylacosauridae. The type species is I. angusticeps.
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. 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 in the fossil record. 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 gorgonopsian from the older underlying Eodicynodon Assemblage Zone.
