Moschognathus

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Moschognathus
Temporal range: Middle Permian, Capitanian ~265–260  Ma
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Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Clade: Therapsida
Suborder: Dinocephalia
Family: Tapinocephalidae
Genus: Moschognathus
Broom, 1914
Species:
M. whaitsi
Binomial name
Moschognathus whaitsi
Broom, 1914
Synonyms
  • ?Struthionops intermediusBoonstra, 1952 [1]

Moschognathus is an extinct genus of dinocephalian therapsid in the family Tapinocephalidae. The genus includes only the type species M. whaitsi, named by palaeontologist Robert Broom in 1914. It was a short-snouted tapinocephalid, closely related to and resembling the well-known genus Moschops , but its skull is less thickened overall has a relatively longer and shallower snout by comparison. Indeed, Moschognathus has typically been regarded as a junior synonym of Moschops (e.g. by King, 1988 and Atayman et al., 2009) [2] [3] since 1969 after Lieuwe Dirk Boonstra sunk Moschognathus into Moschops, albeit retained as its own doubtfully valid species. [4] However, researchers in the 21st century have expressed doubt over this synonymy and suggested that Moschognathus is a distinct taxon after all, including first by Christian Kammerer in a 2009 Ph.D. thesis and formally in 2015 by Alessandra D. S. Boos and colleagues (including Kammerer) in 2015. [1] Moschognathus has since began to re-enter scientific literature of dinocephalians as a valid name and treated distinct from Moschops. [5]

Semi-transparent 3D reconstruction of a potential referred skull of Moschognathus (AM 4950, right) with that of a juvenile Anteosaurus (left), showing the size and shape of the brain and inner ears. Anteosaurus & Moschognathus.png
Semi-transparent 3D reconstruction of a potential referred skull of Moschognathus (AM 4950, right) with that of a juvenile Anteosaurus (left), showing the size and shape of the brain and inner ears.

The holotype specimen, AMNH FARB 5602, is a partial skeleton including the upper jaw tips, mandibles, vertebrae (including a complete cervical series from the neck), ribs, and the right pelvis and femur. [1] In addition to the holotype specimen, a complete skull and mandibles have tentatively been assigned to Moschognathus. This specimen, AM 4950, was initially identified as a juvenile Anteosaurus prior to preparation, [6] but was subsequently identified as a subadult Moschops by Julien Benoit and colleagues in 2016 and again in 2017. [7] [8] This skull was argued to belong instead to Moschognathus in a Ph.D. thesis by Saniye Neumann, and this proposal was formally adopted in subsequent literature. [5] [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Therapsid</span> Clade of tetrapods including mammals

Therapsida is a major group of eupelycosaurian synapsids that includes mammals, their ancestors and relatives. Many of the traits today seen as unique to mammals had their origin within early therapsids, including limbs that were oriented more underneath the body, as opposed to the sprawling posture of many reptiles and salamanders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dinocephalia</span> Extinct clade of stem-mammals

Dinocephalians are a clade of large-bodied early therapsids that flourished in the Early and Middle Permian between 279.5 and 260 million years ago (Ma), but became extinct during the Capitanian mass extinction event. Dinocephalians included herbivorous, carnivorous, and omnivorous forms. Many species had thickened skulls with many knobs and bony projections. Dinocephalians were the first non-mammalian therapsids to be scientifically described and their fossils are known from Russia, China, Brazil, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Tanzania.

<i>Moschops</i> Extinct genus of therapsids that lived in the Guadalupian epoch

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.

<i>Jonkeria</i> Extinct genus of therapsids

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.

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

Anteosaurs are a group of large, primitive carnivorous dinocephalian therapsids with large canines and incisors and short limbs, that are known from the Middle Permian of South Africa, Russia, China, and Brazil. Some grew very large, with skulls 50–80 centimetres (20–31 in) long, and were the largest predators of their time. They died out at the end of the Middle Permian, possibly as a result of the extinction of the herbivorous Tapinocephalia on which they may have fed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anteosauridae</span> Extinct family of therapsids

Anteosauridae is an extinct family of large carnivorous dinocephalian therapsids that are known from the Middle Permian of Asia, Africa, and South America.These animals were by far the largest predators of the Permian period, with skulls reaching 80 cm in length in adult individuals, far larger than the biggest gorgonopsian.

<i>Anteosaurus</i> Extinct genus of anteosaurid synapsid from the Permian

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. With its skull reaching 80–90 cm (31–35 in) in length and a body size estimated at more than 5 m (16 ft) in length, and 500 to 600 kg in weight, 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.

<i>Tapinocephalus</i> Assemblage Zone

The Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone is a tetrapod assemblage zone or biozone which correlates to the middle Abrahamskraal Formation, Adelaide Subgroup of the Beaufort Group, a fossiliferous and geologically important geological Group of the Karoo Supergroup in South Africa. The thickest outcrops, reaching approximately 2,000 metres (6,600 ft), occur from Merweville and Leeu-Gamka in its southernmost exposures, from Sutherland through to Beaufort West where outcrops start to only be found in the south-east, north of Oudshoorn and Willowmore, reaching up to areas south of Graaff-Reinet. Its northernmost exposures occur around the towns Fraserburg and Victoria West. The Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone is the second biozone of the Beaufort Group.

<i>Struthiocephalus</i> Extinct genus of therapsids

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.

<i>Tapinocaninus</i> Extinct genus of therapsids

Tapinocaninus is an extinct genus of therapsids in the family Tapinocephalidae, of which it is the most basal member. Only one species is known, Tapinocaninus pamelae. The species is named in honor of Rubidge's mother, Pam. Fossils have been found dating from the Middle Permian.

<i>Australosyodon</i> Extinct genus of therapsids

Australosyodon is an extinct genus of dinocephalian therapsids from the middle Permian of South Africa. The first fossil was discovered in the 1980s near the village of Prince Albert Road in the Karoo region of South Africa.

<i>Styracocephalus</i>

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.

<i>Pachydectes</i> Extinct genus of therapsids

Pachydectes is an extinct genus of biarmosuchian therapsids from the Middle Permian of South Africa known from a single skull. The etymology of the name Pachydectes is derived from the Greek word pakhus, meaning "thick" or "thickend", and dektes, meaning "biter". In conjunction this name is representative of the unique pachyostotic bone present above the maxillary canine tooth found in the skull of the specimen. There is only one known species within the genus, Pachydectes elsi which is named in honor of the person who discovered the fossil.

<i>Scymnosaurus</i> Extinct genus of therapsids from middle Permian South Africa

Scymnosaurus is a dubious genus of therocephalian therapsids based upon various fossils of large early therocephalians. The genus was described by Robert Broom in 1903 with S. ferox, followed by S. watsoni in 1915 and a third, S. major, by Lieuwe Dirk Boonstra in 1954. Each of these species are considered nomen dubia today and based upon specimens belonging to two separate families of therocephalians. S. ferox and S. major represent specimens of Lycosuchidae incertae sedis, while S. watsoni is Scylacosauridae incertae sedis. A fourth species, S. warreni, has been re-identified as Moschorhinus warreni.

<i>Herpetoskylax</i> Extinct genus of therapsids

Herpetoskylax is an extinct genus of biarmosuchians which existed in South Africa. The type species is Herpetoskylax hopsoni. It lived in the Late Permian Period.

<i>Criocephalosaurus</i> Extinct genus of therapsids

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.

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

The Abrahamskraal Formation is a geological formation and is found in numerous localities in the Northern Cape, Western Cape, and the Eastern Cape of South Africa. It is the lowermost formation of the Adelaide Subgroup of the Beaufort Group, a major geological group that forms part of the greater Karoo Supergroup. It represents the first fully terrestrial geological deposits of the Karoo Basin. Outcrops of the Abrahamskraal Formation are found from the small town Middelpos in its westernmost localities, then around Sutherland, the Moordenaarskaroo north of Laingsburg, Williston, Fraserburg, Leeu-Gamka, Loxton, and Victoria West in the Western Cape and Northern Cape. In the Eastern Cape outcrops are known from Rietbron, north of Klipplaat and Grahamstown, and also southwest of East London.

<i>Pampaphoneus</i> Extinct genus of therapsids

Pampaphoneus is an extinct genus of carnivorous dinocephalian therapsid belonging to the family Anteosauridae. It lived 268 to 265 million years ago during the Wordian age of the Guadalupian period in what is now Brazil. Pampaphoneus is known by an almost complete skull with the lower jaw still articulated, discovered on the lands of the Boqueirão Farm, near the city of São Gabriel, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. A second specimen from the same locality was reported in 2019 and 2020 but has not yet been described. It is composed of a skull associated with postcranial remains. It is the first South American species of dinocephalian to have been described. The group was previously known in South America only by a few isolated teeth and a jaw fragment reported in 2000 in the same region of Brazil. Phylogenetic analysis conducted by Cisneros and colleagues reveals that Pampaphoneus is closely related to anteosaurs from European Russia, indicating a closer faunal relationship between South America and Eastern Europe than previously thought, thus promoting a Pangea B continental reconstruction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anteosaurinae</span> Extinct subfamily of therapsids

Anteosaurinae is an extinct subfamily of dinocephalian therapsids. It is one of two subfamilies in the family Anteosauridae, the other being Syodontinae.

<i>Sinophoneus</i> Extinct genus of therapsids

Sinophoneus is an extinct genus of carnivorous dinocephalian therapsid belonging to the family Anteosauridae. It lived 272 to 270 million years ago at the beginning of the Middle Permian in what is now the Gansu Province in northern China. It is known by a skull of an adult individual, as well as by many skulls of juvenile specimens. The latter were first considered as belonging to a different animal, named Stenocybus, before being reinterpreted as immature Sinophoneus. Sinophoneus shows a combination of characters present in other anteosaurs. Its bulbous profile snout and external nostrils located in front of the canine are reminiscent of the basal anteosaur Archaeosyodon, while its massive transverse pterygoids processes with enlarged distal ends are more similar to the more derived anteosaurs Anteosaurus and Titanophoneus. First phylogenetic analyzes identified Sinophoneus as the most basal Anteosaurinae. A more recent analysis positioned it outside the Anteosaurinae and Syodontinae subclades, and recovers it as the most basal Anteosauridae.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Boos, A.D.S.; Kammerer, C.F.; Schultz, C.L.; Paes Neto, V.D. (2015). "A tapinocephalid dinocephalian (Synapsida, Therapsida) from the Rio do Rasto Formation (Paraná Basin, Brazil): Taxonomic, ontogenetic and biostratigraphic considerations". Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 63: 375–384. Bibcode:2015JSAES..63..375B. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2015.09.003.
  2. King, G. M. (1988). Anomodontia. Encyclopedia of paleoherpetology, part 17C. Gustav Fischer. pp. 1–174. ISBN   0895742500.
  3. Atayman, S.; Rubidge, B.S.; Abdala, F. (2009). "Taxonomic re-evaluation of tapinocephalid dinocephalians" (PDF). Palaeontologia africana. 44: 88–90. hdl: 10539/17294 .
  4. Boonstra, L.D. (1969). "The fauna of the Tapinocephalus zone (Beaufort Beds of the Karoo)". Annals of the South African Museum. 56 (1).
  5. 1 2 Benoit, J.; Kruger, A.; Jirah, S.; Fernandez, V.; Rubidge, B. S. (2021). "Palaeoneurology and palaeobiology of the dinocephalian therapsid Anteosaurus magnificus" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 66. doi: 10.4202/app.00800.2020 .
  6. Modesto, S.P.; Rubidge, B.S.; de Klerk, W.J.; Welman, J. (2001). "A dinocephalian therapsid fauna on the Ecca-Beaufort contact in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa". South African Journal of Science. 97: 161–163.
  7. Benoit, J.; Manger, P.R.; Fernandez, V.; Rubidge, B.S. (2016). "Cranial Bosses of Choerosaurus dejageri (Therapsida, Therocephalia): Earliest Evidence of Cranial Display Structures in Eutheriodonts". PLOS ONE. 11 (8): e0161457. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1161457B. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0161457 . PMC   4993441 . PMID   27548428.
  8. Benoit, J.; Manger, P.R.; Norton, L.; Fernandez, V.; Rubidge, B.S. (2017). "Synchrotron scanning reveals the palaeoneurology of the head-butting Moschops capensis (Therapsida, Dinocephalia)". PeerJ. 5: e3496. doi: 10.7717/peerj.3496 . PMC   5554600 . PMID   28828230.
  9. Benoit, J.; Norton, L. A.; Jirah, S. (2023). "The maxillary canal of the titanosuchid Jonkeria (Synapsida, Dinocephalia)". The Science of Nature. 110 (4). 27. doi:10.1007/s00114-023-01853-w. PMC   10241669 . PMID   37272962.