Arctognathus

Arctognathus is an extinct genus of gorgonopsids that throve during the Late Permian in the Karoo basin of what is now South Africa.[1]

Arctognathus
Temporal range: Permian
Life restoration of A. curvimola
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Therapsida
Family: Gorgonopsidae
Genus: Arctognathus
Broom, 1911
Species
  • A. curvimola (Owen, 1876 [originally Lycosaurus curvimola]) (type)
Synonyms
  • Arctognathoides Boonstra, 1934
  • Lycaenodontoides Haughton, 1924

Discovery

1886 illustration of a A. curvimola skull

A carnivore, like all gorgonopsid, Arctognathus was given its name ("Bear jaw") in reference to its short and rounded snout. There is only one recognized species, A. curvimola.[2]

Description

It was a small gorgonopsid with a total length estimated at 1.1 m and an 18 cm skull.[3]

Classification

Restoration of A. curvimola in environment
Head of A. curvimola

Below is a cladogram from the phylogenetic analysis of Gebauer (2007):[4]

Gorgonopsia 

Aloposaurus

Cyonosaurus

Aelurosaurus

Gorgonopsidae

Scylacognathus

Eoarctops

Gorgonops

Njalila

Lycaenops

Arctognathus

Inostrancevia

Rubidgeinae

Aelurognathus

Rubidgea

Sycosaurus

Clelandina

See also

References

  1. Sidor 2003, p. 606
  2. Christian F. Kammerer (2014) Cranial osteology of Arctognathus curvimola, a short-snouted gorgonopsian from the Late Permian of South Africa. Papers in Palaeontology (advance online publication) DOI: 10.1002/spp2.1002 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/spp2.1002/abstract
  3. "Arctognathus - Palaeocritti - a guide to prehistoric animals".
  4. Gebauer, E.V.I. (2007). Phylogeny and evolution of the Gorgonopsia with a special reference to the skull and skeleton of GPIT/RE/7113 ('Aelurognathus?' parringtoni) (PDF) (Ph.D. thesis). Tübingen: Eberhard-Karls Universität Tübingen. pp. 1–316.

Bibliography


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