Aelurosaurus

Aelurosaurus
Temporal range: Late Permian
Holotype skull of A. felinus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Order: Therapsida
Clade: Theriodontia
Suborder: †Gorgonopsia
Genus: †Aelurosaurus
Owen, 1881
Species
  • †A. felinus Owen, 1881 (type)
  • †A. polyodon (Broom, 1935 [originally Galerhinus polyodon])
  • †A. whaitsi Broom, 1911
  • †A. wilmanae (Broom, 1940 [originally Aelurosauroides wilmanae])
Synonyms
  • Aelurosauroides Boonstra, 1934
  • Aelurosauropsis Haughton and Brink, 1954
  • Galerhinus Broom, 1935
Restoration of A. felinus

Aelurosaurus ("cat lizard", from Ancient Greek αἴλουρος "cat" and σαῦρος "lizard") is an extinct genus of gorgonopsian therapsid from the Late Permian of South Africa. It was first named by Owen in 1881, and contains four species, A. felinus, A. polyodon, A. whaitsi, and A. wilmanae.[1]

It had a very small size, reaching only 0.70 m (2.3 ft) in length with a 13 cm skull.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Gebauer, E.V.I. (2007). Phylogeny and evolution of the Gorgonopsia with a special reference to the skull and skeleton of GPIT/RE/7113 ("Aelurognathus"? parringtoni) (PDF) (Thesis). Dissertation Universität Tübingen.
  2. ↑ https://sites.google.com/site/palaeocritti/by-group/gorgonopsia/aelurosaurus

Sources