Dicynodon

Dicynodon Temporal range: Late Permian
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Synapsida
Order:	Therapsida
Infraorder:	†Dicynodontia
Family:	†Dicynodontidae Owen, 1859
Genus:	†Dicynodon Owen, 1845
Species
†D. lacerticeps Owen, 1845 (type) †D. bolorhinus †D. leoniceps †D. leontops †D. lissops †D. osborni †D. plateceps †D. trautscholdi †D. whaitsi

Dicynodon ("Two Dog-teeth") is a type of dicynodont therapsid that flourished during the Permian period between 251 and 299 million years ago. Like all dicynodonts, it was herbivorous. This animal was toothless, except for prominent tusks, hence the name. It probably cropped vegetation with a horny beak, much like a tortoise, while the tusks may have been used for digging up roots and tubers.

Description

Dicynodon was a medium sized and advanced member of the Dicynodont group. It had an average length of 1.2 metres (3.9 ft), although size differed among species. Its fossil remains have been found in sediments of latest Permian age in South Africa, Tanzania, Russia, and China.

The type species is Dicynodon lacerticeps Owen, 1845. A large number of species have since been placed in this genus, some of which turned out to be synonyms of other species, others have been moved to different genera.

A large species Dicynodon trautscholdi, has been found at Sokolki on the Northern Dvina River near Kotlas in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lived during the latest Permian, and was a contemporary of Inostrancevia, Scutosaurus and Dvinia. Like all members of the genus, this animal was toothless, except for prominent tusks, and probably cropped vegetation with a horny beak, like a tortoise.

The contemporary species Dicynodon amalitzkii Sushkin, 1926 is closely related (Angielczyk and Kurkin 2003a, 2003b), although according to Lucas 2005, Dicynodon trautscholdi, Dicynodon amalitzkii, Elph borealis, and Vivaxosaurus permirus are all synonyms, which makes D. amalitzkii the junior synonym of D. trautscholdi. Other suggested synonyms are Gordonia annae Amalitskii, 1922, Oudenodon venyokovi Amalitskii, 1922, and Dicynodon annae (Amalitskii, 1922).

Dicynodon may be the ancestor of the Triassic genus Kannemeyeria, and hence of most of the Triassic dicynodonts.

Gallery

Dicynodon trigonocephalus   Dicynodon sp. head   Dicynodon trautsholdi

See also

• List of synapsids
• Dicynodont

References

• Angielczyk, Kenneth D.; Kurkin, Andrey A. (October 2003). "Phylogenetic analysis of Russian Permian dicynodonts (Therapsida: Anomodontia): implications for Permian biostratigraphy and Pangaean biogeography". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 139 (2): 157−212. doi:10.1046/j.1096-3642.2003.00081.x. 
• Lucas, S. G., 2005, Dicynodon (Reptilia: Therapsida) from the Upper Permian of Russia: biochronologic significance: In: The Nonmarine Permian; edited by Lucas, S. G., and Zeigler, K. E., New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science, Bulletin 30, p. 192-196.

External links

• Dicynodon - Mikko's Phyogeny archive (list of species and cladogram)

Paleontology portal