Bathygnathus

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Bathygnathus
Head of Bathygnathus borealis, very speculative restoration.
Head of Bathygnathus borealis, very speculative restoration.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Synapsida
Order: Pelycosauria
(unranked) Sphenacodontia
Genus: Bathygnathus
Species
  • Bathygnathus borealis
Left maxilla of Bathygnathus borealis (below) with comparison of Dimetrodon's skull.
Left maxilla of Bathygnathus borealis (below) with comparison of Dimetrodon's skull.

Bathygnathus was a pelycosaur-grade synapsid, a non-dinosaurian amniote which lived during the Permian Period (about 270 Ma). The only specimen of Bathygnathus was discovered on Prince Edward Island during the course of a well excavation, and its significance recognized by the local naturalist Francis Bain. It was originally described by Leidy in 1855 as the lower jaw of a dinosaur. The specimen is now known to represent the upper jaw (maxilla) of a sphenacodontid synapsid.

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