| Smilesaurus Temporal range: Late Permian | |
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| Holotype skull | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Synapsida |
| Clade: | Therapsida |
| Clade: | † Gorgonopsia |
| Family: | † Gorgonopsidae |
| Genus: | † Smilesaurus Broom, 1948 |
| Type species | |
| †Smilesaurus ferox Broom, 1948 | |
| Synonyms | |
Genus level
Species level
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Smilesaurus is an extinct genus of gorgonopsian known from South Africa. It lived during the Late Permian. It contains the single species S. ferox. [1]
Smilesaurus was a large gorgonopsian, with a skull length of up to 31 centimeters. It is characterized by extremely long canine teeth, and has the proportionally longest canines of any gorgonopsian. [2] [1] Unlike other gorgonopsians, which probably hunted similarly to predatory reptiles, Smilesaurus probably was a true saber-toothed predator which hunted using similar tactics to saber-toothed cats. [1] It can be distinguished by other rubidgeines by its lack of cranial pachyostosis and rugosoties, and by its relatively small orbits. [1]
The classification of Smilesaurus has been disputed. It has often been included in Rubidgeinae, but it differs from other members of the clade considerably. [1] Instead, it may be more closely related to Arctops , [3] a position supported by a phylogenetic analysis in 2018. [4]
Below is a cladogram of Gorgonopsia from Bendel et al., 2018: [5]
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