Pristerognathus is an extinct genus of therocephalian, known from the late Middle Permian (Capitanian) of South Africa.[2] It lends its name to the Pristerognathus Assemblage Zone of the Beaufort Group of South African geological strata. Pristerognathus was a medium-sized therocephalian with a 25 cm (9.8 in) skull and a total length up to 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in).[3]

Pristerognathus
Temporal range: Middle Permian
Skulls in side view, including that of the holotype (B)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Clade: Therapsida
Clade: Therocephalia
Family: Scylacosauridae
Genus: Pristerognathus
Seeley, 1895
Species:
P. polyodon
Binomial name
Pristerognathus polyodon
Seeley, 1895
Synonyms[1]
Genus synonymy
  • Pristerognathoides
    Boonstra, 1954
Species synonymy
  • Alopecognathus minor
    Haughton, 1918
  • Pristerognathus peyeri
    Broili & Schröder, 1936
  • Pristerognathoides minor
    Boonstra, 1954
  • Pristerognathoides parvus
    Boonstra, 1954
Skull in Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin

These animals were roughly dog-sized, and are characterized by long, narrow skulls with large canines. They are likely to have lived in woodlands, and preyed on smaller therapsids and millerettids of the time.[4]

Pristerognathus was described in 1895 by Harry Seeley who named the type species Pristerognathus polyodon. Many other species were named in the years following, such as P. baini, P. minor, and P. vanderbyli, however, they have all since been recognised as referable to other species (such as Glanosuchus and Pristerognathoides) are too dubious to determine. As such, P. polyodon is the only definitive species of Pristerognathus.[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Kammerer, Christian E. (2023). "Revision of the Scylacosauridae (Therapsida: Therocephalia)". Palaeontologia africana. 56: 51–87. ISSN 2410-4418.
  2. ^ a b F. Abdala, B. Rubidge, and J. van der Heever, "The oldest therocephalians (Therapsida, Eutheriodonta) and the early diversification of Therapsida," Palaeontology, 51, 1011-1024 (2008)
  3. ^ Stainford Kemp, Thomas(2005) The origin and evolution of mammals p.55
  4. ^ "Meet the Mammal-Like Reptiles of the Paleozoic Era".