''Pristerodon'' is an extinct

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

from the Late Permian of South Africa, Zambia and India.

Paleobiology

Brain and senses

''Pristerodon'' were among the earliest land animals able to hear airborne sound as opposed to hearing via ground vibrations. A South African specimen studied with neutron tomography has shown evidence of an eardrum on its lower jaw with the implication that it was hearing impaired during the act of chewing. The specimen had a 3mm cavity for

cochlea The cochlea is the part of the inner ear involved in hearing. It is a spiral-shaped cavity in the bony labyrinth, in humans making 2.75 turns around its axis, the modiolus. A core component of the cochlea is the Organ of Corti, the sensory or ...

which transformed sound frequency ranges into nerve impulses sent on to the brain.

Ecology

''Pristerodon'' has been found in the Kundaram Formation of India, the Madumabisa Mudstone Formation of Zambia, and the

Teekloof Formation The Teekloof Formation is a geological formation that forms part of the Beaufort Group, one of the five geological groups that comprises the Karoo Supergroup in South Africa. The Teekloof Formation is the uppermost formation of Adelaide Subgroup ...

of South Africa.

Gallery

File:Dicynodon trigoniceps 1 DB.jpg, Restoration of ''Pristerodon mackayi'' Image:Pristerodon mackayi scale.svg, Size of ''Pristerodon mackayi'' relative to a human

References

External links