Brithopus

Brithopus is an extinct genus of dinocephalian therapsids. It contains a single species, Brithopus priscus, known from fragmentary remains found in the Copper Sandstones near Isheevo, Russia.

Brithopus
Temporal range: Middle Permian, Ufimian
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Therapsida
Suborder: †Dinocephalia
Family: †Brithopodidae
Genus: †Brithopus
Kutorga, 1838
Species:
†B. priscus
Binomial name
†Brithopus priscus
Kutorga, 1838
Synonyms
  • Rhopalodon murchisoni Fischer, 1845
  • Dinosaurus murchisoni (Fischer, 1845)

Description

Brithopus was fairly large, reaching a length of 2.5–3 m (8–10 ft).[1] The skull was similar to Titanophoneus, but more massive and heavily built.[2]

Classification

B. priscus was first named in 1838 and was traditionally classified in the Anteosauria, 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 by some researchers. Brithopus was later considered a possible estemmenosuchid,[3] a type of herbivorous tapinocephalian therapsid.[4]

Dinosaurus and Eurosaurus have both been considered synonyms of Brithopus.[5]

Dinosaurus
"Dinosaurus" redirects here. For other uses, see Dinosaur and Dinosaurus!

Rhopalodon Murchison, a junior synonym of Brithopus Priscus, was described in 1845 by Johann Fischer von Waldheim, first as a species of Rhopalodon, but later assigned to its own genus, Dinosaurus, by Fischer in 1847.[6] In 1894, Harry Govier Seeley referred a femur to the genus "Dinosaurus", though this has since been found to belong to Phreatosuchus qualeni.

The name "Dinosaurus" was later used by Ludwig Rütimeyer (1856) for a new specimen of a prosauropod dinosaur, which he named "Dinosaurus grossly". However, the name was not attached to any formal description and so was an invalid nomen nudum. The prosauropod was formally named Gresslyosaurus ingens, and is now considered a junior synonym of Plateosaurus.

See also

References
  1. "Palaeos Vertebrates Therapsida: Anteosauria". palaeos.com. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  2. Olson, E.C. (1962). "Late Permian terrestrial vertebrates, U.S.A. and U.S.S.R." Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, New Series, 52: 1–224.
  3. Kammerer, C. F. 2010. Systematics of the Anteosauria (Therapsida: Dinocephalia). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 9, 261-304.
  4. Kammerer, C.F. (2011). "Systematics of the Anteosauria (Therapsida: Dinocephalia)". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 9 (2): 261–304. doi:10.1080/14772019.2010.492645.
  5. Battail, B., and Surkov, M. V. (2000). "Mammal-like reptiles from Russia." The Age of Dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia, 86-119.
  6. Fischer de Waldheim, J. (1847). "Notice sur Quelques Sauriens de l'Oolithe du Gouvernement de Simbirsk." Bulletin de la Société des Naturalistes de Moscou, Tome XX pt l (Rhinosaurus Jasikovü, Vol.)


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