Pristerodon

Pristerodon Temporal range: Late Permian
Skull at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Synapsida
Clade:	Therapsida
Suborder:	† Anomodontia
Clade:	† Dicynodontia
Family:	† Eumantellidae
Genus:	† Pristerodon Huxley, 1868
Type species
†Pristerodon mackayi Huxley, 1868
Synonyms
Emydops longicepsOwen, 1876 Oudenodon ranicepsOwen, 1876 Dicynodon trigoniceps Broom, 1904 Pristerodon brachyops(Broom, 1911) Diaelurodon whaitsi(Broom, 1911) Dicynodon pygmaeusBroom and Haughton, 1917 Emydops longus(Broom, 1921) Emydops parvusBroom, 1921 Emyduranus platyopsBroom, 1921 Cerataelurus mirabilis Broom, 1931 Orophicephalus microrhynchus(Huene, 1931) Brachyuraniscus merwevillensisBroili & Schroeder, 1935 Brachyuraniscus reuningiBroili & Schroeder, 1935 Eurychororhinus boonstraiBroili & Schroeder, 1935 Synostocephalus vanhoepeniBroili & Schroeder, 1935 Emydops minimusBroom, 1935 Emyduranus gracilisBroom, 1935 Eumantellia mirusBroom, 1935 Emydops microdonBroom, 1936 Newtonella platycepsBroom, 1937 Dimetrodon siwerstraiBroom, 1940 Cryptocynodon schroederiJanensch, 1952 Emydops kitchingiToerien, 1953 Emydops murraysburgensisToerien, 1953 Hueneus oudebergensisToerien, 1953 Parringtoniella broomiToerien, 1953 Pristerodon buffaloensisToerien, 1953

Pristerodon is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsid from the Late Permian of South Africa, Zambia and India.

Paleobiology

Brain and senses

Pristerodon were among the earliest land animals able to hear airborne sound as opposed to hearing via ground vibrations. A South African specimen studied with neutron tomography ^[1] has shown evidence of an eardrum on its lower jaw with the implication that it was hearing impaired during the act of chewing. The specimen had a 3mm cavity for cochlea which transformed sound frequency ranges into nerve impulses sent on to the brain.

Ecology

Pristerodon has been found in the Kundaram Formation of India, Usili Formation of Tanzania, the Upper Madumabisa Mudstone Formation of Zambia, and the Teekloof Formation and Abrahamskraal Formation of South Africa.

Phylogeny

Pristerodon in a cladogram modified from Angielczyk and Rubidge (2010) showing the phylogenetic relationships of Dicynodontia: ^[2]

Dicynodontia

Eodicynodon Colobodectes Lanthanostegus Pylaecephalidae Robertia Diictodon Prosictodon Chelydontops Endothiodon Pristerodon Emydopoidea Emydops Myosaurus Kingoriidae Dicynodontoides Kombuisia Cistecephalidae Cistecephalus Cistecephaloides Kawingasaurus Pristerodontia Interpresosaurus Elph Rhachiocephalus Cryptodontidae Oudenodon Tropidostoma Australobarbarus Geikiidae Odontocyclops Idelesaurus Aulacephalodon Geikia Pelanomodon Dicynodontoidea Katumbia Delectosaurus Dicynodon Lystrosauridae Kannemeyeriiformes Vivaxosaurus

See also

• List of therapsids

References

1. Laaß, Michael (26 June 2015). "The origins of the cochlea and impedance matching hearing in synapsids" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 60. doi: 10.4202/app.00140.2014 . Retrieved 14 July 2015.
2. Kenneth D. Angielczyk; Bruce S. Rubidge (2010). "A new pylaecephalid dicynodont (Therapsida, Anomodontia) from the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone, Karoo Basin, Middle Permian of South Africa". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 30 (5): 1396–1409. Bibcode:2010JVPal..30.1396A. doi:10.1080/02724634.2010.501447. S2CID   129846697.

External links

• The main groups of non-mammalian synapsids at Mikko's Phylogeny Archive