| Orovenator Temporal range: Artinskian, | |
|---|---|
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| Skull diagram | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Neoreptilia |
| Genus: | † Orovenator Reisz, Modesto & Scott 2011 |
| Type species | |
| †Orovenator mayorum | |
Orovenator is an extinct genus of early reptile from Lower Permian (Artinskian stage) deposits of Oklahoma, United States. Orovenator was originally interpreted as a basal neodiapsid [1] , but recent phylogenetic analyses have instead placed Orovenator among earlier-diverging stem reptiles [2] [3] [4] .
It is known from two partial skulls from the Richards Spur locality in Oklahoma. The holotype OMNH 74606 consists of a partial skull preserving snout and mandible, and the referred specimen, OMNH 74607, a partial skull preserving the skull roof, vertebrae and palatal elements. It was first named by Robert R. Reisz, Sean P. Modesto and Diane M. Scott in 2011 and the type species is Orovenator mayorum. The generic name means "mountain", oro, in Greek in reference to the Richards Spur locality, which was mountainous during the Permian period and "hunter", venator, in Latin. The specific name honours Bill and Julie May.
A 2018 redescription by David Ford and Roger Benson found that Orovenator shared many similarities with varanopids, a group of reptile-like tetrapods traditionally considered to be synapsids (amniotes more closely related to mammals than to modern reptiles). However, this proposed close relation between Orovenator and varanopids did not render Orovenator a synapsid; rather, it supported a placement for Varanopidae within Sauropsida. [5] However, a 2021 study found that the morphology of the maxillary canal of Orovenator was dissimilar to that of the varonopid Heleosaurus, which resembled that of synapsids, and instead was similar to those of other early reptiles. [6]
