|
Styracocephalus
''Styracocephalus platyrhynchus'' ('spike head') is an extinct species of tapinocephalian therapsids that lived during the Guadalupian epoch. ''Styracocephalus''s head ornament meant that it could be recognised from a distance. The most striking feature of ''Styracocephalus'' are the large backward-protruding tabular horns. The crest stuck upwards and backwards, but there is some variation in its shape, and this suggests that it changed throughout life and that it may be sexually dimorphic. ''Styracocephalus'' was a herbivore that may have been fully terrestrial or partly aquatic like the modern hippopotamus. It may have evolved from the estemmenosuchids. Its remains are known from South Africa but it probably had a wider distribution. It was around in length, with a , skull. See also * List of therapsids This list of therapsids is an attempt to create a comprehensive listing of all genera that have ever been included in the Therapsida excluding mammals and purely ve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
STYRACOCEPHALUS 2 Copia
''Styracocephalus platyrhynchus'' ('spike head') is an extinct species of tapinocephalian therapsids that lived during the Guadalupian epoch. ''Styracocephalus''s head ornament meant that it could be recognised from a distance. The most striking feature of ''Styracocephalus'' are the large backward-protruding tabular horns. The crest stuck upwards and backwards, but there is some variation in its shape, and this suggests that it changed throughout life and that it may be sexually dimorphic. ''Styracocephalus'' was a herbivore that may have been fully terrestrial or partly aquatic like the modern hippopotamus. It may have evolved from the estemmenosuchids. Its remains are known from South Africa but it probably had a wider distribution. It was around in length, with a , skull. See also * List of therapsids This list of therapsids is an attempt to create a comprehensive listing of all genera that have ever been included in the Therapsida excluding mammals and purely ver ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Therapsids
This list of therapsids is an attempt to create a comprehensive listing of all genera that have ever been included in the Therapsida excluding mammals and purely vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly accepted genera, but also genera that are now considered invalid, doubtful ('' nomina dubia''), or were not formally published (''nomina nuda''), as well as junior synonyms of more established names, and genera that are no longer considered therapsids. The list currently contains 510 generic names. Naming conventions and terminology Naming conventions and terminology follow the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Technical terms used include: * Junior synonym: A name which describes the same taxon as a previously published name. If two or more genera are formally designated and the type specimens are later assigned to the same genus, the first to be published (in chronological order) is the senior synonym, and all other instances are junior synonyms. Senior synon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Estemmenosuchus
''Estemmenosuchus'' (meaning "crowned crocodile" in Greek) is an extinct genus of large, early omnivorous therapsid. It is believed and interpreted to have lived during the middle part of the Middle Permian around 267 million years ago. The two species, ''E. uralensis'' and ''E. mirabilis'', are characterised by distinctive horn-like structures, which were probably used for intra-specific display. Both species of ''Estemmenosuchus'' are from the Perm (or Cis-Urals) region of Russia. Two other estemmenosuchids, ''Anoplosuchus'' and ''Zopherosuchus'', are now considered females of the species ''E. uralensis''. There were many complete and incomplete skeletons found together. Description ''Estemmenosuchus'' could reach a body length of more than . Its skull was long and massive, up to in length, and possessed several sets of large horns, somewhat similar to the antlers of a moose, growing upward and outward from the sides and top of the head. The animal had a sprawling posture a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tapinocephalia
The Tapinocephalia are one of the major groups of dinocephalian therapsids and the major herbivorous group. Tapinocephalia has been found to consist of three clades: Styracocephalidae, Titanosuchidae, and the very successful Tapinocephalidae. Notable tapinocephalians include ''Moschops'', ''Tapinocephalus'', and ''Titanosuchus''. Description Unlike anteosaurs and estemmenosuchids, tapinocephalians are primarily an African group. The estemmenosuchids and pareiasaurs may have occupied this paleo-bovine niche in the north. Only one tapinocephalian, ''Ulemosaurus'', is known from Russia. Earlier tapinocephalians were carnivorous or omnivorous. One such group was Titanosuchidae, which consisted of long-tailed predators that hunted herbivorous therapsids Therapsida is a major group of eupelycosaurian synapsids that includes mammals, their ancestors and relatives. Many of the traits today seen as unique to mammals had their origin within early therapsids, including limbs that wer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tapinocephalians
The Tapinocephalia are one of the major groups of dinocephalian therapsids and the major herbivorous group. Tapinocephalia has been found to consist of three clades: Styracocephalidae, Titanosuchidae, and the very successful Tapinocephalidae. Notable tapinocephalians include ''Moschops'', ''Tapinocephalus'', and ''Titanosuchus''. Description Unlike anteosaurs and estemmenosuchids, tapinocephalians are primarily an African group. The estemmenosuchids and pareiasaurs may have occupied this paleo-bovine niche in the north. Only one tapinocephalian, ''Ulemosaurus'', is known from Russia. Earlier tapinocephalians were carnivorous or omnivorous. One such group was Titanosuchidae, which consisted of long-tailed predators that hunted herbivorous therapsids Therapsida is a major group of eupelycosaurian synapsids that includes mammals, their ancestors and relatives. Many of the traits today seen as unique to mammals had their origin within early therapsids, including limbs that wer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Estemmenosuchidae
Estemmenosuchidae is an extinct family of large, very early herbivorous therapsids that flourished during the Guadalupian period. They are distinguished by horn-like structures, probably for display or agonistic behavior. Apart from the best known genus, '' Estemmenosuchus'', the group is poorly known. To date, their fossils are known only from the Perm region of Russia (a region referred to by Russian paleontologists as the Cis-Urals). Description Estemmenosuchids are among the most distinctive of the Permian tetrapods. The high and massive skull is equipped with a number of horns projecting both upwards and outwards, which were probably used for intra-specific display. The incisors and canine teeth are large, but those at the side are reduced, with a serrated apex, and may have helped to break up plant material, although they were too small to be of much use. The body is large and bulky, indicating a large digestive tract for digesting volumes of plant food. The skull superfi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Capitanian
In the geologic timescale, the Capitanian is an age or stage of the Permian. It is also the uppermost or latest of three subdivisions of the Guadalupian Epoch or Series. The Capitanian lasted between and million years ago. It was preceded by the Wordian and followed by the Wuchiapingian.; 2004: ''A Geologic Time Scale 2004'', Cambridge University Press A significant mass extinction event occurred at the end of this stage, which was associated with anoxia and acidification in the oceans and possibly caused by the volcanic eruptions that produced the Emeishan Traps. This extinction event may be related to the much larger Permian–Triassic extinction event that followed about 10 million years later. Stratigraphy The Capitanian Stage was introduced into scientific literature by George Burr Richardson in 1904. The name comes from the Capitan Reef in the Guadalupe Mountains (Texas, United States). The Capitanian was first used as a stratigraphic subdivision of the Guadalupian in 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guadalupian Synapsids Of Africa
The Guadalupian is the second and middle series/epoch of the Permian. The Guadalupian was preceded by the Cisuralian and followed by the Lopingian. It is named after the Guadalupe Mountains of New Mexico and Texas, and dates between 272.95 ± 0.5 – 259.1 ± 0.4 Mya. The series saw the rise of the therapsids, a minor extinction event called Olson's Extinction and a significant mass extinction called the end-Capitanian extinction event. The Guadalupian was previously known as the Middle Permian. Name and background The Guadalupian is the second and middle series or epoch of the Permian. Previously called Middle Permian, the name of this epoch is part of a revision of Permian stratigraphy for standard global correlation. The name "Guadalupian" was first proposed in the early 1900s, and approved by the International Subcommission on Permian Stratigraphy in 1996. References to the Middle Permian still exist. The Guadalupian was preceded by the Cisuralian and followed by the Lop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prehistoric Therapsid Genera
Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of symbols, marks, and images appears very early among humans, but the earliest known writing systems appeared 5000 years ago. It took thousands of years for writing systems to be widely adopted, with writing spreading to almost all cultures by the 19th century. The end of prehistory therefore came at very different times in different places, and the term is less often used in discussing societies where prehistory ended relatively recently. In the early Bronze Age, Sumer in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley Civilisation, and ancient Egypt were the first civilizations to develop their own scripts and to keep historical records, with their neighbors following. Most other civilizations reached the end of prehistory during the following Iron Age. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tapinocephalidae
Tapinocephalidae was an advanced family of tapinocephalians. It is defined as the clade containing ''Ulemosaurus'', '' Tapinocaninus'', and the Tapinocephalinae. They are known from both Russia and South Africa. In all probability, the Tapinocephalidae had a worldwide (Pangean) distribution. They flourished briefly during the Wordian and Capitanian ages, radiating into several lineages, existing simultaneously, and differing mainly in details of the skull and, to an even lesser degree, the skeleton. It is not clear how such similar animals could each find their own ecological niche, but such was obviously the case. There is a parallel here with the hadrosaur and ceratopsian dinosaurs of the Late Cretaceous. The cause of their abrupt extinction is not clear, since other smaller animals, and even the pareiasaurs, were not affected. Quite probably, like the extinction of the late Pleistocene megafauna, a number of factors were involved. Description The body is deep and capacious, al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonkeria
''Jonkeria'' is an extinct genus of dinocephalians. Species were very large and omnivorous (although there is some dispute to this, e.g. Colbert 1969 p. 136), from the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone, Lower Beaufort Group, of the South African Karoo. Description The overall length was or more (up to ), the skull about 55 cm long. The skull is nearly twice as long as wide, and the snout is elongated and provided with sharp incisors and large canines. The cheek teeth were small. The body is robustly built, and the limbs stout. According to Boonstra 1969 p. 38, ''Jonkeria'' cannot be distinguished from its relative ''Titanosuchus'' on cranial grounds, but only in limb length; ''Jonkeria'' having short and squat limbs, and ''Titanosuchus'' long ones. Evidence of femoral osteomyelitis has been described in a fossilised specimen of ''J. parva''. The authors attributed the cause of the pathology, characterised by bony spicules growing perpendicular to nonpathological ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini. It also completely enclaves the country Lesotho. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World, and the second-most populous country located entirely south of the equator, after Tanzania. South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot, with unique biomes, plant and animal life. With over 60 million people, the country is the world's 24th-most populous nation and covers an area of . South Africa has three capital cities, with the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government based in Pretoria, Bloemfontein, and Cape Town respectively. The largest city is Johannesburg. About 80% of the population are Black South Afri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
