Procolophonidae

Procolophonidae
Temporal range: Late Permian - Late Triassic
Life restoration of Procolophon pricei from the Early Triassic of South Africa
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Parareptilia
Order: Procolophonomorpha
Superfamily: Procolophonoidea
Family: Procolophonidae
Seeley, 1888
Subgroups

See text.

Synonyms
  • Sclerosauridae Nopsca, 1923[1][2]

Procolophonidae is an extinct family of parareptiles from the Permian and Triassic periods.

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.[3]

Hypsognathus. Model in life size

Phylogeny

Below is a cladogram from Ruta et al. (2011):[4]

Procolophonidae


Coletta seca



Pintosaurus magnidentis



Sauropareion anoplus



Kitchingnathus untabeni




Phaanthosaurus ignatjevi



Phaanthosaurus simus




Theledectinae


Eumetabolodon dongshengensis



Theledectes perforatus





Tichvinskia vjatkensis



Leptopleuroninae


Pentaedrusaurus ordosianus




Neoprocolophon asiaticus





Sclerosaurus armatus



Scoloparia glyphanodon





Leptopleuron lacertinum




Soturnia caliodon



Hypsognathus fenneri







Procolophoninae



Eumetabolodon bathycephalus




Procolophon trigoniceps



Teratophon spinigenis



Thelerpeton oppressus






Timanophon raridentatus




Thelephon contritus




Anomoiodon liliensterni




Kapes amaenus



Kapes bentoni



Kapes komiensis



Kapes majmesculae











References

  1. Cisneros, J. C. (2008). "Phylogenetic relationships of procolophonid parareptiles with remarks on their geological record". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 6 (3): 345–366. doi:10.1017/S1477201907002350.
  2. Hans-Dieter Sues and Robert R. Reisz (2008). "Anatomy and Phylogenetic Relationships of Sclerosaurus armatus (Amniota: Parareptilia) from the Buntsandstein (Triassic) of Europe". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 28 (4): 1031–1042. doi:10.1671/0272-4634-28.4.1031.
  3. https://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080608/sc_livescience/newfossilssuggestancientcatsizedreptilesinantarctica;_ylt=Avnu8qP7mQfjixKPsB5Eqol7hMgF
  4. Ruta, M.; Cisneros, J. C.; Liebrecht, T.; Tsuji, L. A.; Müller, J. (2011). "Amniotes through major biological crises: Faunal turnover among Parareptiles and the end-Permian mass extinction". Palaeontology. 54 (5): 1117–1137. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2011.01051.x.

Sources


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