Dicynodon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||
|
D. bolorhinus |
Dicynodon ("Two Dog-teeth") is a type of herbivorous mammal-like reptile that flourished during the Permian Period. This animal was toothless, except for prominent tusks, hence the name. It probably cropped vegetation with a horny beak, much like a tortoise, while the tusks may have been used for digging up roots and tubers.
Dicynodon was a medium- to largish-sized and advanced member of the Dicynodont group. It had an average length of 1.2 meters, although size differed among species. Its fossil remains have been found in sediments of latest Permian age in South Africa, Tanzania, Russia, and China.
The type species is Dicynodon lacerticeps Owen, 1845. A large number of species have since been placed in this genus, some of which turned out to be synonyms of other species, others have been moved to different genera.
Dicynodon may be the ancestor of the Triassic genus Kannemeyeria, and hence of most of the Triassic dicynodonts.
[edit] References
- Kenneth D. Angielczyk and Andrey A. Kurkin, Phylogenetic analysis of Russian Permian dicynodonts (Therapsida: Anomodontia): implications for Permian biostratigraphy and Pangaean biogeography, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society Volume 139 Issue 2 pp.157−212 October 2003
- Lucas, S. G., 2005, Dicynodon (Reptilia: Therapsida) from the Upper Permian of Russia: biochronologic significance: In: The Nonmarine Permian; edited by Lucas, S. G., and Zeigler, K. E., New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science, Bulletin 30, p. 192-196.
