Procolophonid

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Procolophonidae Fossil range: Middle Permian to Late Triassic
Procolophon pricei from the Early Triassic of South Africa
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Subphylum: Vertebrata Superclass: Tetrapoda Class: Sauropsida Subclass: Anapsida Order: Procolophonia Family: Procolophonidae Seeley, 1888
Genera
Owenetta Procolophon Hypsognathus

The Procolophonids - family Procolophonidae (Superfamily Procolophonoidea)- are a group of small reptiles. Skulls have been discovered, roughly 5 cm in diameter.

They were shaped like stocky lizards, with broad-cheeked skulls. Their cheeks sported a stout backward-pointing spike. Hypsognathus, from North America, had many cheek spikes. Procolophon, the genus after which the group was named, is unusual. Their skulls resemble the turtles', sharing a posttemporal fenestra. Accordingly they have historically been classed alongside the turtles under the Anapsida.

Up to the early Triassic, their teeth were sharp, indicating an insectivorous diet. Later in the Triassic their teeth became broader, indicating a switch to a herbivorous diet. They became extinct at the end of the Triassic.

Recent findings indicate that these animals may have been found in Antarctica in the Early Triassic, thereby the earliest evidence of tetrapods in the Antarctic.^[1]

[edit] References

[edit] Links

• Introduction to Procolophonoidea
• Lambert, David (2001). Dinosaur Encyclopedia. Dorling Kindersley, New York, New York.  72.