''Titanogomphodon'' 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 ...

diademodontid Diademodontidae is an extinct family of Triassic gomphodonts. The best-known genus is ''Diademodon'' from South Africa. '' Titanogomphodon'' from Namibia may also be a member of Diademodontidae. The Chinese genera ''Hazhenia'' and ''Ordosiodon'' ...

cynodont The cynodonts () (clade Cynodontia) are a clade of eutheriodont therapsids that first appeared in the Late Permian (approximately 260 mya), and extensively diversified after the Permian–Triassic extinction event. Cynodonts had a wide variety ...

s from the

Middle Triassic In the geologic timescale, the Middle Triassic is the second of three epochs of the Triassic period or the middle of three series in which the Triassic system is divided in chronostratigraphy. The Middle Triassic spans the time between Ma and ...

Omingonde Formation The Omingonde Formation is an Early Triassic, Early to Middle Triassic (Anisian to Ladinian) geologic Formation (geology), formation, part of the Karoo Supergroup, in the western Otjozondjupa Region and northeastern Erongo Region of north-central N ...

of Namibia. It is known from a single partial skull that was described in 1973 from the

. The type and only species is ''Titanogomphodon crassus''. At about , the skull of ''Titanogomphodon'' was significantly larger than that of its closest relative, '' Diademodon'' (hundreds of skulls of ''Diademodon'' are known and none exceed in length). Its teeth are similar to those of another group of cynodonts called Traversodontidae, but the similarities are likely the result of

convergent evolution 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 ...

. Aside from its larger size, ''Titanogomphodon'' differs from ''Diademodon'' in having a bony projection on the

postorbital bar The postorbital bar (or postorbital bone) is a bony arched structure that connects the frontal bone of the skull to the zygomatic arch, which runs laterally around the eye socket. It is a trait that only occurs in mammalian taxa, such as most streps ...

behind the eye socket.

Diet

Like ''Diademodon'', ''Titanogomphodon'' was probably herbivorous. It is part of a very diverse fossil assemblage in the Omingonde Formation that includes several other types of cynodonts, including ''Diademodon'', '' Cynognathus'', and ''

Trirachodon ''Trirachodon'' (Greek: "three ridge tooth") is an extinct genus of cynodonts. Fossils have been found in the ''Cynognathus'' Assemblage Zone of the Beaufort Group in South Africa and the Omingonde Formation of Namibia, dating back to the Early ...

'', as well as other

therapsid 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 more ...

s such as ''

Dolichuranus ''Dolichuranus'' is an extinct genus of Dicynodontia, dicynodont therapsids from the Middle Triassic Omingonde Formation of Namibia and the Ntawere Formation of Zambia. See also * List of therapsids References * ''Chinese Fossil Vertebrates ...

'' and '' Herpetogale''. The Omingonde assemblage was part of a larger continental fauna that ranged across much of

Gondwana Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final stages ...

during the Middle Triassic.

Other finds

An isolated upper jaw of a diademodontid described from the Fremouw Formation of Antarctica in 1995 was suggested to potentially belong to ''Titanogomphodon'' based on its large size. However, since the only known fossil of ''Titanogomphodon'' is a lower jaw, the two specimens cannot be assigned with certainty to the same taxon. In 2021, the specimen was assigned to a new species of trirachodontid, '' Impidens hancoxi'', which reached an even larger size than ''Titanogomphodon''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q20164526 Cynognathians Prehistoric cynodont genera Anisian life Middle Triassic synapsids of Africa Triassic Namibia Fossils of Namibia Omingonde Formation Fossil taxa described in 1973