''Vivaxosaurus'' is a
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
dicynodont
Dicynodontia is an extinct clade of anomodonts, an extinct type of non-mammalian therapsid. Dicynodonts were herbivorous animals with a pair of tusks, hence their name, which means 'two dog tooth'. Members of the group possessed a horny, typic ...
from
Late Permian
Late may refer to:
* LATE, an acronym which could stand for:
** Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, a proposed form of dementia
** Local-authority trading enterprise, a New Zealand business law
** Local average treatment effect, ...
(
Changhsingian
In the geologic time scale, the Changhsingian or Changxingian is the latest age or uppermost stage of the Permian. It is also the upper or latest of two subdivisions of the Lopingian Epoch or Series. The Changhsingian lasted from to 251.902 ...
) 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 ...
. It has been found at
Sokolki on the
Northern Dvina River
The Northern Dvina (russian: Се́верная Двина́, ; kv, Вы́нва / Výnva) is a river in northern Russia flowing through the Vologda Oblast and Arkhangelsk Oblast into the Dvina Bay of the White Sea. Along with the Pechora River ...
near
Kotlas
Kotlas (russian: Ко́тлас) is a town in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Northern Dvina and Vychegda Rivers. Population:
Kotlas is the third largest town of Arkhangelsk Oblast in terms of population (after A ...
in
Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lived during the latest Permian, and was a contemporary of ''
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 ...
'', ''
Scutosaurus
''Scutosaurus'' ("shield lizard") is an extinct genus of pareiasaur parareptiles. Its genus name refers to large plates of armor scattered across its body. It was a large anapsid reptile that, unlike most reptiles, held its legs underneath its ...
'' and ''
Dvinia
''Dvinia'' is an extinct genus of cynodonts found in the Salarevo Formation of Sokolki on the Northern Dvina River near Kotlas in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It is the only known member of the family Dviniidae. Its fossil remains date from t ...
''. Like all members of the
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 ...
, this animal was toothless, except for prominent tusks, and probably cropped vegetation with a horny beak, like a tortoise.
History
![Dicynodont](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Dicynodont.jpg)
The contemporary species ''Dicynodon amalitzkii''
Sushkin, 1926 is closely related (Angielczyk and Kurkin 2003a, 2003b), although according to
Lucas 2005, ''Dicynodon trautscholdi'', ''Dicynodon amalitzkii'', ''Elph borealis'', and ''Vivaxosaurus permirus'' are all synonyms, which makes ''D. amalitzkii'' the
junior synonym of ''D. trautscholdi''. Other suggested synonyms are ''Gordonia annae'' Amalitskii, 1922, ''Oudenodon venyokovi'' Amalitskii, 1922, and ''Dicynodon annae'' (Amalitskii, 1922).
In 2011, ''Vivaxosaurus permirus'' and ''Dicynodon trautscholdi'' were combined as ''Vivaxosaurus trautscholdi''.
This same study also moved ''D. amalitzkii'' to the genus ''
Peramodon
''Peramodon'' is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsid from the Late Permian ''Scutosaurus karpinskii'' Zone of the Salarevo Formation of Russia. The type species, ''P. amalitzkii'', was first named in 1926 as ''Dicynodon
''Dicynodon'' (" ...
''. In 2012, the species ''D. trautscholdi'' was moved to the genus ''Fortunodon'', independently of its synonymization with ''V. permirus'';
this makes ''Fortunodon'' a subjective junior synonym of ''Vivaxosaurus trautscholdi''.
References
Dicynodonts
Lopingian synapsids of Europe
Extinct animals of Russia
Anomodont genera
{{anomodont-stub