''Opisthodontosaurus'' is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

captorhinid Captorhinidae (also known as cotylosaurs) is an extinct family of tetrapods, traditionally considered primitive reptiles, known from the late Carboniferous to the Late Permian. They had a cosmopolitan distribution across Pangea. Description Cap ...

reptile from the

Early Permian 01 or '01 may refer to: * The year 2001, or any year ending with 01 * The month of January * 1 (number) Music * '01 (Richard Müller album), 01'' (Richard Müller album), 2001 * 01 (Son of Dave album), ''01'' (Son of Dave album), 2000 * 01 (Urban ...

of Oklahoma. The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

''Opisthodontosaurus carrolli'' was named in 2015 on the basis of several articulated skeletons from the Dolese Brothers Limestone Quarry near Richards Spur. Before the description of these skeletons, the jaws and teeth of ''Opisthodontosaurus carrolli'' were thought to belong to a species of

lepospondyl Lepospondyli is a diverse taxon of early tetrapods. With the exception of one late-surviving lepospondyl from the Late Permian of Morocco (''Diplocaulus minumus''), lepospondyls lived from the Early Carboniferous ( Mississippian) to the Early Per ...

amphibian called '' Euryodus primus''. Although captorhinid reptiles and lepospondyl amphibians are distantly related, the two species show a remarkable degree of

evolutionary convergence Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last com ...

in their dental anatomy. Both were likely

durophagous Durophagy is the eating behavior of animals that consume hard-shelled or exoskeleton bearing organisms, such as corals, shelled mollusks, or crabs. It is mostly used to describe fish, but is also used when describing reptiles, including fossil tu ...

, eating hard-shelled invertebrates.

References

Permian reptiles of North America Captorhinids Prehistoric reptile genera {{permian-reptile-stub