Styracocephalus
| Styracocephalus | ||||||||||
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Styracocephalus , artistic representation of life |
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||
| Middle Perm ( Capitanium ) | ||||||||||
| 265 to 260 million years | ||||||||||
| Locations | ||||||||||
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South Africa ( Karoo Main Basin ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Styracocephalus | ||||||||||
| Haughton , 1929 | ||||||||||
| species | ||||||||||
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Styracocephalus platyrhynchus |
Styracocephalus is an extinct genus of primitive therapsids (so-called "mammal-like reptiles") from the group of Dinocephalia . The only known species , Styracocephalus platyrhynchus , lived as a four-legged herbivore (herbivore) in the Middle Permian about 265 to 260 million years ago in what is now South Africa . The name Styracocephalus comes from the Greek and means spiked head.
features
Like its close relative Tapinocephalus , Styracocephalus had a thickened skull. Possibly he used it to fight fights with conspecifics. It was about two meters long and weighed about a ton. Analyzes of the fragments found so far could indicate that Styracocephalus is to be classified within the Dinocephalia of its own family, the Styracocephalidae.
Styracocephalus is considered to be a particularly primitive representative of the Tapinocephalia .
discovery
A poorly preserved skull was first discovered in 1929 by Sidney Henry Haughton .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bruce S. Rubidge & Juri A. Van Den Heever: Morphology and systematic position of the dinocephalian Styracocephalus platyrhynchus. - Lethaia, vol. 30, pages 157-168. 1997.
- ^ Styracocephalus