Titanosuchidae Temporal range: Middle Permian, | |
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Life restoration of Titanosuchus ferox | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Synapsida |
Clade: | Therapsida |
Suborder: | † Dinocephalia |
Clade: | † Titanosuchia Broom |
Family: | † Titanosuchidae Broom, 1903 [1] |
Genera | |
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Titanosuchidae is an extinct family of dinocephalians known only from the middle Permian Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone of South Africa. [2]
The titanosuchids were large, omnivorous [3] or herbivorous [2] animals. As with other tapinocephalians, they had thickened skulls that may have been used in head-butting, but to a lesser degree than in Tapinocephalidae or Anteosauridae. They had large canine teeth, strong incisors with a "talon and heel" morphology, and leaf-shaped postcanine teeth. Two titanosuchid genera are recognized as valid: Jonkeria and Titanosuchus ; they can be distinguished on the basis of limb proportions. [2]