- Moschops
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Moschops
Temporal range: Middle Permian
Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Subphylum: Vertebrata Class: Synapsida Order: Therapsida Suborder: †Dinocephalia Superfamily: †Tapinocephalia Family: †Tapinocephalidae Genus: †Moschops
Broom, 1911Species - Moschops capensis Broom, 1911
Moschops (meaning calf face) is an extinct genus of therapsid that lived in the Late Permian, around 255 million years ago. Therapsids were proto-mammals (non-mammal synapsids), which were the dominant land animals. Five metres long, Moschops was the largest land animal of its time, a herbivore preyed on by other therapsids. Its remains were found in the Karoo region of South Africa.
Contents
Description
It was the largest land animal at the time, with a body length of around 5 metres (16 ft). It was a heavily-built herbivore with short, chisel-like teeth for cropping vegetation. The forelimbs sprawled outwards, like those of a modern lizard, but the hind limbs were more mammalian in form, being placed directly under the body. The diet of Moschop was mostly plants, sometimes eating meat.[1]
It had a thickened skull and it has been proposed that the animals competed with each other by head-butting[1]; mountain sheep use a similar method. A short, but heavy tail may have counter-balanced its large head if the thick skull was a natural occurrence. It was probably the main source of food for predatory therapsids such as Lycaenops[1].
In popular culture
A UK children's animation series called 'Moschops' ran for 13 episodes in 1983;[2] there was an accompanying set of books. The titular character was joined for adventures by his friends and relatives, including an Allosaurus and Diplodocus (Jurassic), and a Triceratops, ichthyosaur, and Tyrannosaurus (Cretaceous). All the other characters were in fact anachronistic with the Permian Period in which the historical Moschops lived, and geographically remote from its location.
It makes an appearance in cartoon called The Moschops, a 1999 cartoon by Jim Trainor that was shown in the 2005 New York Underground Film Festival.
It also appears in the computer game series named Carnivores as an unhuntable creature, though far too small.
Gallery
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Moschops capensis skeleton
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Life restoration of Moschops capensis
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Moschops capensis Life restoration
See also
- List of synapsids
References
External links
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