Sauroctonus

Taxobox
name = "Sauroctonus"
fossil_range = Late Permian

---

image_width = 250px
image_caption = "Sauroctonus parringtoni"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Synapsida
ordo = Therapsida
subordo = Gorgonopsia
familia = Gorgonopsidae
genus = "Sauroctonus"
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision =
*"S. progressus"
*"S. parringtoni"

"Sauroctonus" ("Sauroctonus progressus") was a large (3 m. long) gorgonopsid that lived in Late Permian epoch before the Permian-Triassic extinction event that wiped out many life forms on Earth (250 million years ago).

Its flattened, triangular skull was about 25 centimeters long, with a parietal eye, a primitive character, on the crown. The upper and lower jaw each contained one pair of massive canines (the upper pair was larger); the other teeth were smaller, but were also sharp and pointed. In addition, minute, blunt teeth were present on the palatine bones. The lower jaw was widened to form a kind of chin. The long, lightly built, five-toed limbs bore a resemblance to mammals' limbs, but despite its 'mammalian' characteristics, "Sauroctonus" was not one of the ancestors of mammals.

Its fossils were found in South Africa and in Russia (Volga basin).

Gallery

References

Benes, Josef. Prehistoric Animals and Plants. Pg. 95. Prague: Artia, 1979.

Links

* http://tobias-lib.ub.uni-tuebingen.de/volltexte/2007/2935/pdf/Eva_Gebauer.pdf