| Polycynodon Temporal range: Late Permian | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Synapsida |
| Clade: | Therapsida |
| Clade: | † Therocephalia |
| Superfamily: | † Baurioidea |
| Genus: | † Polycynodon Broom and Robinson, 1948 |
| Type species | |
| †Polycynodon elegans (Broom, 1940) (originally Octocynodon elegans) | |
Polycynodon is an extinct genus of therocephalians from the Late Permian of South Africa. It is known from the Cistecephalus Assemblage Zone. [1] The type species was first described as Octocynodon elegans by South African paleontologist Robert Broom in 1940, but the name Octocynodon was preoccupied by a genus of labrid fish first described in 1904. [2] Along with John T. Robinson, Broom instated Polycynodon as a replacement name for O. elegans in 1948. Polycynodon is classified in Baurioidea, although its relationship to other baurioid therocephalians is uncertain. [3]
