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''Smilesaurus'' is an extinct
Below is a cladogram of Gorgonopsia from Bendel ''et al.'' 2018:
The main groups of non-mammalian synapsids at Mikko's Phylogeny Archive
Gorgonopsia Prehistoric therapsid genera Fossil taxa described in 1948 Taxa named by Robert Broom {{paleo-therapsid-stub
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 ...
of gorgonopsian
Gorgonopsia (from the Greek Gorgon, a mythological beast, and 'aspect') is an extinct clade of sabre-toothed therapsids from the Middle to Upper Permian roughly 265 to 252 million years ago. They are characterised by a long and narrow skull, a ...
known from Africa. It lived during the Late Permian. It contains the single species ''S. ferox''.
Description
''Smilesaurus'' was a large gorgonopsian, with a skull length of up to 31 centimeters. It is characterized by extremely long canine teeth, and has the proportionally longest canines of any gorgonopsian. Unlike other gorgonopsians, which probably hunted similarly to predatory reptiles, ''Smilesaurus'' probably was a true saber-toothed predator which hunted using similar tactics tosaber-toothed cat
Machairodontinae is an extinct subfamily of carnivoran mammals of the family Felidae (true cats). They were found in Asia, Africa, North America, South America, and Europe from the Miocene to the Pleistocene, living from about 16 million until ...
s. It can be distinguished by other rubidgeines by its lack of cranial pachyostosis and rugosoties, and by its relatively small orbits.
Classification
The classification of ''Smilesaurus'' has been disputed. It has often been included in Rubidgeinae, but it differs from other members of the clade considerably. Instead, it may be more closely related to '' Arctops'', a position supported by a phylogenetic analysis in 2018.
Below is a cladogram of Gorgonopsia from Bendel ''et al.'' 2018:
See also
* List of therapsidsReferences
The main groups of non-mammalian synapsids at Mikko's Phylogeny Archive
Gorgonopsia Prehistoric therapsid genera Fossil taxa described in 1948 Taxa named by Robert Broom {{paleo-therapsid-stub