Galesuchus

Galesuchus
Temporal occurrence
	Middle Perm
	272.3 to 259.9 million years
Locations
	South Africa;
Systematics
	Amniotes (Amniota)
	Synapsids (Synapsida)
	Therapsids (Therapsida)
	Theriodontia
	Gorgonopsia
	Galesuchus
Scientific name
	Galesuchus
	Haughton , 1915
Art
	Galesuchus gracilis;

Galesuchus is a very little known, extinct genus of the Gorgonopsia from the Therapsiden group . Fossils have been found in South Africa and are dated to the Middle Permian.

Galesuchus was first described scientifically in 1915 by Sidney Henry Haughton . The only species is Galesuchus gracilis . The first find (holotype, specimen number SAM 2754) consists of a poorly preserved skull, the bones of which have been partially eroded, whereby the sutures of the individual skull bones are hardly recognizable. The snout is completely missing from the find. Eva Gebrauer (2007) declares Galesuchus as a noun dubium .

features

The first description comes from Haughton (1915). As this author states, Galesuchus had a sloping head. The canines were comparatively large, four small teeth followed behind the canines. In another description from 1924, Haughton states that Galesuchus exhibits a combination of primitive and inferred characteristics. Primitive features include the square cross-section of the snout, the laterally aligned eye sockets and the sloping back of the head. An example of a guided trait, according to Haughton, is the reduced teardrop bone . Sigogneau (1970) described the genus again. This author suspects that the skull did not come from an adult animal, but from an animal that was not yet sexually mature.

Systematics

Galesuchus is considered a representative of the Gorgonopsia . Haughton (1924) suspected on the basis of the combination of primitive and derived characters that this genus was not one of the ancestors of the later Gorgonopsia.

Finds and Validity

The holotype , the first find, consists only of the poorly preserved skull. Sigogneau-Russell (1989) found four more specimens (SAM 11846, SAM K 230, K 208 SAM and SAM 11849) - this material, however, is in a similarly poor state of preservation as the holotype. Eva Gebrauer (2009) sees Galesuchus and the species Galesuchus gracilis as the noun dubia because of the poor fossil material .

Individual evidence

^ Robert Broom: The Mammal-like Reptiles of South Africa and the Origin of Mammals. HF & G. Witherby, 1932, pp. 105 and 110.
^ The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. In: Encyclopaedia Britannica. 1983, p. 386.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Eva VI Gebauer: Phylogeny and evolution of the Gorgonopsia with a special reference to the skull and skeleton of GPIT / RE / 7113 (Aelurognathus? Parringtoni) . Dissertation. Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen 2007, DNB 987110462 , urn : nbn: de: bsz: 21-opus-29355 .

[RB2008-1] Robert Broom: The Mammal-like Reptiles of South Africa and the Origin of Mammals. HF & G. Witherby, 1932, pp. 105 and 110.

[Britannica1983-2] The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. In: Encyclopaedia Britannica. 1983, p. 386.

[EG2007-3] Eva VI Gebauer: Phylogeny and evolution of the Gorgonopsia with a special reference to the skull and skeleton of GPIT / RE / 7113 (Aelurognathus? Parringtoni) . Dissertation. Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen 2007, DNB 987110462 , urn : nbn: de: bsz: 21-opus-29355 .