Ivantosaurus
| Ivantosaurus Temporal range: Wordian, 267Ma | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Life restoration of Ivantosaurus ensifer | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Synapsida |
| Order: | Therapsida |
| Suborder: | †Biarmosuchia |
| Family: | †Eotitanosuchidae |
| Genus: | †Ivantosaurus Tchudinov, 1983 |
| Type species | |
| †Ivantosaurus ensifer Tchudinov, 1983 | |
Ivantosaurus is an extinct genus of therapsid that lived in Russia during the Wordian stage of the Permian period.Some paleontologists have suggested that Ivantosaurus is a large species of Eotitanosuchus.
Description
It is known only from the fragmentary remains of its jaw.Maxilla short and high.Its skull was long, about a meter in length.It was carnivorous and may have grown to a length of 6 meters, approx. Ivantosaurus would have been the largest carnivorous therapsid known, exceeding in size even the largest Late Wordian/early Capitanian anteosaurs.
Teeth
Two canine teeth are set side-to-side in Ivantosaurus' jaw and with their axes inclined forward.It is possible that this therapsid had a unique dentition (no other known animal has two sets of canine teeth), but more likely that a replacement tooth was growing in next to the old tooth about to be lost.Sigogneau-Russell (1989) seems to think this is unlikely, which would make this a quite different animal from Eotitanosuchus. As with the therocephalian family Lycosuchidae, these may simply be replacement canines. There are few known animals, living or extinct, with two sets of canines(It would be a very inefficient chewing mechanism).
See also
References
- The Age of Dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia. Benton, Michael J.; Shishkin, Mikhail A.; Unwin, David M. 2003. pp. 91–92.
External links
- Eotitanosuchidae at Kheper
- Therapsida: Biarmosuchia: Biarmosuchidae / Eotitanosuchidae at Palaeos