''Sauroctonus'' (from el, σαῦρος , 'lizard' and el, κτόνος , 'murderer') is an
extinct genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
of
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 were oriented mo ...
.
''Sauroctonus progressus'' was a large (2 m long)
gorgonopsid that lived in the Late
Permian
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last ...
epoch before the
Permian-Triassic extinction event that wiped out many life forms on
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
(259-254 million years ago). Its fossils have been found in the
Usili Formation
The Usili Formation is a Late Permian geologic formation in Tanzania. It preserves fossils of many terrestrial vertebrates from the Permian, including temnospondyls, pareiasaurs, therapsids and the archosauromorph ''Aenigmastropheus''.
History ...
(
Songea Group) of
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...
and the
Sokolki Assemblage Zone of the
Volga Basin
The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchmen ...
of
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
.
Description
''Sauroctonus's'' flattened, triangular skull was about long, with a
parietal eye
A parietal eye, also known as a third eye or pineal eye, is a part of the epithalamus present in some vertebrates. The eye is located at the top of the head, is photoreceptive and is associated with the pineal gland, regulating circadian rhyth ...
, a primitive character, on the crown. The upper and lower jaw each contained one pair of massive
canine teeth
In mammalian oral anatomy, the canine teeth, also called cuspids, dog teeth, or (in the context of the upper jaw) fangs, eye teeth, vampire teeth, or vampire fangs, are the relatively long, pointed teeth. They can appear more flattened howeve ...
(the upper pair was larger); the other teeth were smaller, but were also sharp and pointed. In addition, minute, blunt teeth were present on the
palatine bones. The lower jaw was widened to form a kind of chin. The long, lightly built, five-toed
limbs bore a resemblance to
mammals' limbs, but despite its 'mammalian' characteristics, ''Sauroctonus'' was not one of the ancestors of mammals. Based on its cranial and skeletal features, ''Sauroctonus'' was not as specialized as other gorgonopsids such as ''
Rubidgea
''Rubidgea'' is a genus of gorgonopsid from the upper Permian of South Africa and Tanzania, containing the species ''Rubidgea atrox''. The generic name ''Rubidgea'' is sometimes believed to be derived from the surname of renowned Karoo paleontolo ...
'' or ''
Inostrancevia
''Inostrancevia'' is an extinct genus of carnivorous therapsids, containing the largest members of gorgonopsians, predators characterized by long, saber-tooth-like canines. The various species inhabited European Russia during the Upper Tatar ...
''.
Species
There are two recognized species of ''Sauroctonus'': ''S. progressus'' and ''S. parringtoni''.
[Gebauer E I, 2014. Re-assessment of the taxonomic position of the specimen GPIT/RE/7113 (Sauroctonus parringtoni comb. nov., Gorgonopsia). In: Kammerer C F, Angielczyk K D, Fröbisch J eds. Early Evolutionary History of the Synapsida. Dordrecht: Springer. 185−207.]
Gallery
Image:Sauroctonus parringtoni.jpg, ''Sauroctonus parringtoni''
Image:Sauroctonus.jpg, ''Sauroctonus progressus''
File:Sauroctonus1.jpg
Image:Sauroctonus progressus09.jpg
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 vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly accepted genera, but also genera tha ...
References
Further reading
* Benes, Josef. Prehistoric Animals and Plants. Pg. 95. Prague: Artia, 1979.
External links
* http://tobias-lib.ub.uni-tuebingen.de/volltexte/2007/2935/pdf/Eva_Gebauer.pdf
Gorgonopsia
Prehistoric therapsid genera
Lopingian synapsids of Africa
Fossils of Tanzania
Prehistoric synapsids of Europe
Fossils of Russia
Lopingian genus first appearances
Lopingian genus extinctions
Fossil taxa described in 1955
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