| Varanosaurus Temporal range: Early Permian, | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A reconstruction of Varanosaurus acutirostris | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Synapsida |
| Family: | † Ophiacodontidae |
| Genus: | † Varanosaurus Broili, 1904 |
| Type species | |
| †Varanosaurus acutirostris Broili, 1904 | |
| Species [1] | |
| |
Varanosaurus ('monitor lizard') is an extinct genus of early ophiacodontid synapsid that lived during the Artinskian [2] and Kungurian ages of the Permian. [3]
As its name implies, Varanosaurus may have looked superficially similar to present-day monitor lizards [ citation needed ], though not related at all.
Varanosaurus had a flattened, elongated skull and a pointed snout with a row of sharp teeth, including two pairs of conspicuous pseudocanines, implying that it was an active predator. [4]
Varanosaurus probably lived in swamps, competing with the larger Ophiacodon for food.[ citation needed ]
Below is a cladogram modified from the analysis of Benson (2012): [5]
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | This synapsid-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
