''Brithopus'' is an extinct genus of

dinocephalia Dinocephalians (terrible heads) are a clade of large-bodied early therapsids that flourished in the Early and Middle Permian between 279.5 and 260 million years ago (Ma), but became extinct during the Capitanian mass extinction event. Dinoceph ...

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. It contains a single species, ''Brithopus priscus'', known from fragmentary remains found in the Copper Sandstones near Isheevo,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Description

''Brithopus'' was fairly large, reaching a length of 2.5–3 m (8–10 ft). The skull was similar to ''

Titanophoneus ''Titanophoneus'' ("titanic murderer") is an extinct genus of carnivorous dinocephalian therapsid from the Middle Permian. It is classified within the family Anteosauridae. The type species is ''Titanophoneus potens''. Remains of ''Titanophoneus'' ...

'', but more massive and heavily built.Olson, E.C. (1962). "

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, ...

terrestrial vertebrates, U.S.A. and U.S.S.R." ''Transactions of the American Philosophical Society'', New Series, 52: 1–224.

Classification

''B. priscus'' was first named in 1838 and was traditionally classified in the

Anteosauria Anteosaurs are a group of large, primitive carnivorous dinocephalian therapsids with large canines and incisors and short limbs, that are known from the Middle Permian of South Africa, Russia, China, and Brazil. Some grew very large, with skulls ...

, a group of carnivorous dinocephalians. ''Brithopus'' served as the basis for the family Brithopodidae, which once included many anteosaurian species. Because it is based on fragmentary material, ''Brithopus'' is regarded as a ''

nomen dubium In binomial nomenclature, a ''nomen dubium'' (Latin for "doubtful name", plural ''nomina dubia'') is a scientific name that is of unknown or doubtful application. Zoology In case of a ''nomen dubium'' it may be impossible to determine whether a s ...

'' by some researchers. ''Brithopus'' was later considered a possible

estemmenosuchid Estemmenosuchidae is an extinct family of large, very early herbivorous therapsids that flourished during the Guadalupian period. They are distinguished by horn-like structures, probably for display or agonistic behavior. Apart from the best kn ...

,Kammerer, C. F. 2010. Systematics of the Anteosauria (Therapsida: Dinocephalia). ''Journal of Systematic Palaeontology'', 9, 261-304. a type of herbivorous

tapinocephalia The Tapinocephalia are one of the major groups of dinocephalian therapsids and the major herbivorous group. Tapinocephalia has been found to consist of three clades: Styracocephalidae, Titanosuchidae, and the very successful Tapinocephalidae. No ...

n therapsid. ''

Dinosaurus ''Dinosaurus'' is an extinct genus of therapsid of controversial affinities. Its type and only species is ''Dinosaurus murchisonii''. It is only known from a partial snout from the Permian of Russia. Its taxonomic history is intertwined with seve ...

'' and ''

Eurosaurus ''Eurosaurus'' is an extinct genus of non-mammalian synapsids. Its taxonomic history is intertwined with that of the therapsids '' Brithopus'' and '' Orthopus'' and the temnospondyl '' Melosaurus''. In the 1830s and 1840s, Permian fossils were fo ...

'' have both been considered synonyms of ''Brithopus''.Battail, B., and Surkov, M. V. (2000). "Mammal-like reptiles from Russia." ''The Age of Dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia'', 86-119.

References

External links

Message to the Dinosaur Mailing List briefly detailing the history of the name
Tapinocephalians Prehistoric therapsid genera Monotypic prehistoric animal genera Fossils of Russia Fossil taxa described in 1838 {{Paleo-Therapsid-stub

Description

Classification

See also

References

External links