''Elephantosaurus'' is an extinct genus 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, typicall ...
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 ...
(
Ladinian
The Ladinian is a stage and age in the Middle Triassic series or epoch. It spans the time between Ma and ~237 Ma (million years ago). The Ladinian was preceded by the Anisian and succeeded by the Carnian (part of the Upper or Late Triassic).
...
)
Bukobay Formation
The Bukobay Svita (also anglicized as Bukobay or Bukobai Formation) is a Middle Triassic geological unit in Russia.[holotype
A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...]
and only known specimen, catalogued as PIN 525/25, is a fragment of the skull that includes portions of the left
interorbital region
The interorbital region of the skull is located between the eyes, anterior to the braincase. The form of the interorbital region may exhibit significant variation between taxonomic groups.
In oryzomyine rodents, for example, the width, form, an ...
and
nasal bone
The nasal bones are two small oblong bones, varying in size and form in different individuals; they are placed side by side at the middle and upper part of the face and by their junction, form the bridge of the upper one third of the nose.
Eac ...
s, and suggests a very large animal with a skull at least wide
[V’yushkov, V.P., 1969. New dicynodonts from the Triassic of the Cis-Urals. Paleontol. Zh. 1969, 99 – 106 (in Russian).] (although it may have been smaller than ''
Stahleckeria
''Stahleckeria'' is an extinct genus of Middle Triassic (Ladinian) dicynodonts.[Stahleckeriidae
Stahleckeriidae is a family of dicynodont therapsids whose fossils are known from the Triassic of North America, South America, Asia and Africa.
Classification
Phylogeny
Below is a cladogram
A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ...]
, generally due to its size, it probably falls just outside the group due to its
frontal bone
The frontal bone is a bone in the human skull. The bone consists of two portions.''Gray's Anatomy'' (1918) These are the vertically oriented squamous part, and the horizontally oriented orbital part, making up the bony part of the forehead, par ...
contributing substantially to the margin of the eye socket.
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
External links
The main groups of non-mammalian synapsids at Mikko's Phylogeny Archive
Dicynodonts
Anisian life
Triassic synapsids
Triassic Russia
Fossils of Russia
Fossil taxa described in 1969
Anomodont genera
{{anomodont-stub