Brithopus
| Brithopus Temporal range: Middle Permian, Ufimian | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Synapsida |
| Order: | Therapsida |
| Suborder: | †Dinocephalia |
| Family: | †Brithopodidae Efremov, 1954 |
| Genus: | †Brithopus Kutorga, 1838 |
| Type species | |
| †B. priscus Kutorga, 1838 | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Rhopalodon murchisoni Fischer, 1845 Dinosaurus murchisoni (Fischer, 1845) [originally Rhopalodon] | |
Brithopus is an extinct genus of dinocephalian therapsid. It was first named in 1838 and was traditionally classified in the Anteosauria, a group of carnivorous dinocephalians. In fact, Brithopus served as the basis for the family Brithopodidae, which once included many anteosaurian species. Because it is based on fragmentary, non-diagnostic material, Brithopus is now regarded as a nomen dubium, and the sole member of Brithopodidae. Brithopus may even be more closely related to herbivorous tapinocephalids than to anteosaurians.[1]
Brithopus was fairly large, reaching a length of 2.5–3 m (8–10 ft).[2]
Dinosaurus
Dinosaurus, a junior synonym of Brithopus, was first described in 1845 by Johann Fischer von Waldheim, first as a species of Rhopalodon (R. murchisoni), and assigned to its own genus by Fischer in 1847.[3]
The name "Dinosaurus" was later used by Ludwig Rütimeyer (1856) for a dubious genus of prosauropod dinosaur, which he named Dinosaurus gresslyi. However, the name was found to be preoccupied by the therapsid. The prosauropod was renamed Gresslyosaurus ingens, and is now considered a junior synonym of Plateosaurus.
References
- ↑ Kammerer, C.F. (2011). "Systematics of the Anteosauria (Therapsida: Dinocephalia)". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 9 (2). doi:10.1080/14772019.2010.492645.
- ↑ http://palaeos.com/vertebrates/therapsida/anteosauria.html
- ↑ Fischer de Waldheim, J. (1847). "Notice sur quelques Sauriens de l'Oolithe du Gouvernement de Simbirsk." Bulletin de la Societe des Naturalistes de Moscou, Tome XX pt l (Rhinosaurus Jasikovü, Ool.)