''Varanops'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

genus of

Early Permian 01 or '01 may refer to: * The year 2001, or any year ending with 01 * The month of January * 1 (number) Music * '01 (Richard Müller album), 01'' (Richard Müller album), 2001 * 01 (Son of Dave album), ''01'' (Son of Dave album), 2000 * 01 (Urban ...

varanopid synapsids known from Texas and

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

of the United States. It was first named by Samuel Wendell Williston in

1911 A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...

as a second species of ''

Varanosaurus ''Varanosaurus'' (' monitor lizard') is an extinct genus of early pelycosaur synapsid that lived during the Kungurian. Description As its name implies, ''Varanosaurus'' may have looked superficially similar to present-day monitor lizards, tho ...

'', ''Varanosaurus brevirostris''. In

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

, Samuel W. Williston reassigned it to its own genus and the type species is ''Varanops brevirostris''. Varanops NT small

Discovery

''V. brevirostris'' is known from the holotype FMNH UC 644, a three-dimensionally preserved nearly complete and articulated

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside ...

including a nearly complete skull and mandibles. It was collected in the Indian Creek, 35 site (='' Cacops'' Bonebed), from the

Arroyo Formation The Arroyo Formation is a geologic formation in Texas.Baylor County Baylor County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 3,465. Its county seat is Seymour. History In 1858, the Texas Legislature established Baylor County, naming it for Henry Weidner Baylor, ...

of Texas, dating to the early Kungurian stage of the

Cisuralian The Cisuralian is the first Series (stratigraphy), series/Epoch (geology), epoch of the Permian. The Cisuralian was preceded by the Pennsylvanian (geology), Pennsylvanian and followed by the Guadalupian. The Cisuralian Epoch is named after the w ...

Epoch, about 279.5-272.5 million years ago. Many well preserved specimens from the same locality and horizon of the type specimen, including FMNH UR 2423, nearly complete skull and mandibles, MCZ 1926, complete skull and mandibles and FMNH P 12841, partial skeleton, are referred to ''V. brevirostris''. One articulated skeleton with bite marks was found in southwest of Abilene (Arroyo Formation), Taylor County of Texas. Specimens ( OMNH 73156-73178) of ''V. brevirostris'' were also collected in the

Richards Spur Richards Spur is a Permian fossil locality located at the Dolese Brothers Limestone Quarry north of Lawton, Oklahoma. The locality preserves clay and mudstone fissure fills of a karst system eroded out of Ordovician limestone and dolomite, with the ...

, from the

Garber Formation The Garber Formation is a geologic formation in Oklahoma. It preserves fossils dating back to the Permian period. See also * List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Oklahoma * Paleontology in Oklahoma Paleontology in Oklahoma refers to pa ...

(Dolese Brothers Limestone Quarry) of the Sumner Group, Comanche County of Oklahoma, dating to the same age. Those remains came from at least three individuals, and represents the first varanodontine material from the Richards Spur. Finally, TMM 43628-1, a partial skeleton with nearly complete skull, was collected in the Mud Hill locality, from the

Vale Formation The Vale Formation is a geologic formation in Texas. It preserves fossils dating back to the Permian period. Diplocaulus recurvatus is one of the creatures discovered there. See also * List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Texas * Paleont ...

of the Clear Fork Group, Taylor County, also dating to the same age.

Description

''Varanops'' was a large pelycosaur, around the size of the modern

monitor lizard Monitor lizards are lizards in the genus ''Varanus,'' the only extant genus in the family Varanidae. They are native to Africa, Asia, and Oceania, and one species is also found in the Americas as an invasive species. About 80 species are recogn ...

s. It was about long, and had large limbs and sharp, backward-curving teeth. It was one of many agile, voracious predators among pelycosaurs. Even though it was large for its time, ''Varanops'' was very small compared to the dinosaurs that came much later.

Classification

''Varanops'' is the type genus of the family Varanopidae. Cladistic analysis performed by Nicolás E. Campione and

Robert R. Reisz Robert Rafael Reisz is a Canadian paleontologist and specialist in the study of early amniote and tetrapod evolution. Research career Reisz received his B.Sc. (1969), M.Sc. (1971) and Ph.D. (1975) from McGill University as Robert L. Carroll ...

in 2010 suggests that ''Varanops'' is a derived

varanodontine Varanopidae is an extinct family of amniotes that resembled monitor lizards and may have filled a similar niche, hence the name. Typically, they are considered synapsids that evolved from an '' Archaeothyris''-like synapsid in the Late Carbonifer ...

, sister taxon to the clade formed by ''

Varanodon ''Varanodon'' is an extinct genus of amniotes from the family Varanopidae. It reached a length of about . It lived during the early late Permian period. See also * List of pelycosaurs This list of pelycosaurs is an attempt to create a compre ...

'' and ''

Watongia ''Watongia'' is an extinct genus of non-mammalian synapsids from Middle Permian of Oklahoma. Only one species has been described, ''Watongia meieri'', from the Chickasha Formation. It was assigned to family Gorgonopsidae by OlsonOlson, E.C. 1974. ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2498998 Varanopids Prehistoric synapsid genera Cisuralian synapsids of North America Taxa named by Samuel Wendell Williston Cisuralian genus first appearances Cisuralian genus extinctions Fossil taxa described in 1911