Kistecephalia

Last updated

Kistecephalia
Temporal range: Late Permian - Middle Triassic
KingoriaDB.jpg
Restoration of the kistecephalian Dicynodontoides recurvidens
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Clade: Therapsida
Suborder: Anomodontia
Clade: Dicynodontia
Superfamily: Emydopoidea
Clade: Kistecephalia
Seeley, 1894

Kistecephalia is a clade of dicynodont therapsids. The group was first named in 1894, and was reinstated as a clade in 2009. Kistecephalia is a stem-based taxon defined as all taxa more closely related to Cistecephalus microrhinus than Emydops arctatus . [1] It includes the families Myosauridae, Kingoriidae, and Cistecephalidae and is part of the larger group Emydopoidea. Kistecephalians were small in comparison to other dicynodonts. One group of kistecephalians, the cistecephalids, are thought to have been burrowers. Below is a cladogram from Kammerer et al. (2011) showing the phylogenetic relationships of kistecephalians: [2]

Therochelonia  
  Diictodontia  
  Pylaecephalidae  

Diictodon

Eosimops

Prosictodon

Robertia

  Emydopoidea  

Emydops

 Kistecephalia 
  Kingoriidae  

Dicynodontoides

Kombuisia

Myosaurus

  Cistecephalidae  

Cistecephalus

Cistecephaloides

Kawingasaurus

Bidentalia

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lystrosauridae</span> Extinct family of dicynodonts

Lystrosauridae is a family of dicynodont therapsids from the Permian and Triassic time periods. It includes two genera, Lystrosaurus and Kwazulusaurus. Kwazulusaurus includes a single species, K. shakai, from the Late Permian of South Africa and Lystrosaurus includes many species from the Late Permian and Early Triassic of South Africa, India, and Antarctica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diictodontia</span> Extinct clade of dicynodonts

The Diictodontia were a group of herbivorous Dicynodonts from the Permian and Triassic of South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cryptodontia</span> Extinct clade of dicynodonts

Cryptodontia is a group of dicynodont therapsids that includes the families Geikiidae, Oudenodontidae, and Rhachiocephalidae. It was first named in 1860 by English paleontologist Richard Owen. Owen intended Cryptodontia to be a family, and the name was later changed to "Cryptodontidae" to reflect this ranking. The name Cryptodontia was restored in 2009 when it was redefined as a larger clade containing several families of dicynodonts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chainosauria</span> Extinct clade of therapsids

Chainosauria is a large and speciose clade of anomodont therapsid that includes the highly diverse dicynodonts and a small number of closely related basal genera —although the total composition and taxonomic scope of Chainosauria is in flux. Chainosauria was named in 1923 to group together the dicynodonts and their close relatives, namely three small anomodont genera from South Africa that made up the now defunct group 'Dromasauria'. The name soon fell into disuse, however, as it was functionally replaced by Anomodontia. Chainosauria was later revived cladistically in 2009, preserving the association of dicynodonts and the 'dromasaurs' and has since served in effect as both a cladistic and a biogeographic counterpart to the Laurasian venyukovioids, with early chainosaurs appearing to have been a Gondwanan radiation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pylaecephalidae</span> Extinct family of dicynodonts

Pylaecephalidae is a family of dicynodont therapsids that includes Diictodon, Robertia, and Prosictodon from the Permian of South Africa. Pylaecephalids were small burrowing dicynodonts with long tusks. The family was first named in 1934 and was redefined in 2009. Diictodontidae and Robertiidae are considered junior synonyms of Pylaecephalidae; although Pylaecephalus itself is considered a junior synonym of Diictodon, the name Pylaecephalidae predates these names and therefore takes priority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dicynodontoidea</span> Extinct infraorder of dicynodonts

Dicynodontoidea is an infraorder of dicynodont therapsids that includes the famous dicynodont Dicynodon, Lystrosaurus and the Triassic Kannemeyeriiformes, as well as numerous other closely related species. The name was coined by American paleontologist Everett C. Olson in 1941 as an infraorder, despite using the typical "-oidea" suffix of superfamilies, and was later redefined under a phylogenetic context in 2009 by paleontologist Christian F. Kammerer.

Peramodon is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsid from the Late Permian Scutosaurus karpinskii Zone of the Salarevo Formation of Russia. The type species, P. amalitzkii, was first named in 1926 as Dicynodon amalitzkii.

Keyseria is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsid. The type species K. benjamini was first named in 1948 as Dicynodon benjamini.

Euptychognathus is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsid. The type species E. bathyrhynchus was first named in 1942 as Dicynodon bathyrhynchus. Fossils of the genus have been recovered from the Usili Formation of the Ruhuhu Basin in Tanzania.

Syops is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsid. The type species S. vanhoepeni was first named in 1938 as Dicynodon vanhoepeni. Fossils of the genus have been found in the Cistecephalus Assemblage Zone in the Usili Formation of the Ruhuhu Basin, Tanzania and the Upper Madumabisa Mudstone Formation of the Luangwa Basin, Zambia. Its phylogenetic placement is somewhat uncertain, with multiple different studies finding it as either a basal geikiid, rhachiocephalid a dicynodontoid more derived than the most basal genera but less derived than Lystrosauridae, or a lystrosaurid.

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

Basilodon is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsid. The type species, Basilodon woodwardi was originally named in 1921 as Dicynodon woodwardi. Fossils have been found in the Cistecephalus Assemblage Zone and Dicynodon Assemblage Zone of the Balfour Formation of the Beaufort Group in South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Therochelonia</span> Extinct clade of dicynodonts

Therochelonia is a group of dicynodont therapsids. The group was named by British paleontologist Harry Seeley in 1894 and fell into disuse in the following century. Therochelonia was redefined as a node-based clade in 2009. It is defined as the last common ancestor of Cistecephalus microrhinus and Dicynodon lacerticeps, and all of its descendants. Below is a simplified cladogram from Kammerer et al. (2011) showing the phylogenetic placement of Therochelonia:

Sintocephalus is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsid from the Late Permian of South Africa. Fossils are known from the Cistecephalus Assemblage Zone of the Beaufort Group. The type species of Sintocephalus, S. alticeps, was first named in 1913 as a species of Dicynodon. The genus was erected in 1934, but in subsequent years its species were often regarded as members of other dicynodont genera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bidentalia</span> Extinct clade of dicynodonts

Bidentalia is a group of dicynodont therapsids. Bidentalia was one of the first names used to describe dicynodonts; the group was established in 1876, while the name "bidentals" dates back as far as 1845. With the increasing prominence of phylogenetics, the group was redefined as a clade in 2009. Bidentalia is now considered a stem-based taxon that includes all taxa more closely related to Aulacephalodon bainii and Dicynodon lacerticeps than Emydops arctatus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emydopoidea</span> Extinct superfamily of dicynodonts

Emydopoidea is a group of Late Permian dicynodont therapsids. It includes the small-bodied Emydops, Myosaurus, and kingoriids, and the burrowing cistecephalids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cistecephalidae</span> Extinct family of dicynodonts

Cistecephalidae is an extinct family of dicynodont therapsids from the Late Permian of South Africa, India and Zambia. It includes the genera Cistecephalus, Cistecephaloides, and Kawingasaurus. Cistecephalids are thought to have had a fossorial or burrowing lifestyle, with adaptations such as broad skulls, strong forelimbs, and squat bodies. A similar group of dicynodonts called the pylaecephalids were also fossorial, although to a lesser extent than cistecephalids. Cistecephalids showed a high level of endemism, with each of the five known species unique to a single region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingoriidae</span> Extinct family of dicynodonts

Kingoriidae is an extinct family of dicynodont therapsids. It includes the Late Permian Dicynodontoides and the Triassic Kombuisia.

Rhachiocephalidae is an extinct family of dicynodont therapsids. It includes two genera from the Late Permian of southern Africa, Rhachiocephalus and Kitchinganomodon. Rhachiocephalids were the largest dicynodonts in the Permian, although the kannemeyeriiform dicynodonts of the Late Triassic grew to larger sizes. Rhachiocephalids are also unusual in that they have long, low skulls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Endothiodontia</span> Extinct clade of dicynodonts

Endothiodontia is a clade of dicynodont therapsids that includes the family Endothiodontidae and possibly the family Eumantellidae.

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

Turfanodon is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsid from the Late Permian Sunan, Guodikeng, and Naobaogou Formations of China. The holotype of T. bogdaensis was discovered between 1963-1964 and was originally named in 1973 by A. Sun with the type species Turfanodon bogdaensis, Turfanodon was reclassified as a junior synonym of the related Dicynodon in 1988 by G. M. King. T. bogdaensis remained a species of Dicynodon for over two decades before the genus was reinstated in 2011 in a revision of the taxonomy of Dicynodon by palaeontologist Christian Kammerer. A second species from Inner Mongolia, T. jiufengensis, was named in 2021 by palaeontologist Jun Liu from a nearly complete skeleton and other referred bones. Turfanodon was a relatively large dicynodont, and similar in appearance to the related Daptocephalus from South Africa.

References

  1. Kammerer, C.F.; Angielczyk, K.D. (2009). "A proposed higher taxonomy of anomodont therapsids" (PDF). Zootaxa. 2018: 1–24.
  2. Kammerer, C.F.; Angielczyk, K.D.; Fröbisch, J. (2011). "A comprehensive taxonomic revision of Dicynodon (Therapsida, Anomodontia) and its implications for dicynodont phylogeny, biogeography, and biostratigraphy". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 31 (Suppl. 1): 1–158. Bibcode:2011JVPal..31S...1K. doi:10.1080/02724634.2011.627074. S2CID   84987497.