Prodicynodon is an extinct genus of dicynodont from the Late Permian of South Africa. Two species are known, the type species P. pearstonensis and P. beaufortensis, both known only from their respective holotypes.

Prodicynodon
Temporal range: Late Permian
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Clade: Therapsida
Suborder: Anomodontia
Clade: Dicynodontia
Genus: Prodicynodon
Broom, 1904
Type species
Prodicynodon pearstonensis
Broom, 1904
Other species
  • P. beaufortensis Broom, 1912

The holotypes of both Prodicynodon species are small, and some authors have considered Prodicynodon either a senior synonym of Chelydontops or a juvenile Endothiodon.[1][2] However, in a 2014 abstract for the annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Christian Kammerer and colleagues considered Prodicynodon a valid genus closely related to Therochelonia based on CT scanning and unpublished phylogenetic results, even while agreeing with King (1988) that the Prodicynodon specimens were juvenile.[3]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ KING, G.M. 1988. Anomodontia. In: Wellnhofer, P. (ed.), Handbuch der Paläoherpetologie, Part 17C. Stuttgart & New York, Gustav Fischer Verlag, 174 pp.
  2. ^ COX, C. B. (1998), The jaw function and adaptive radiation of the dicynodont mammal-like reptiles of the Karoo basin of South Africa. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 122: 349–384. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1998.tb02534.x
  3. ^ Nehls, M. , C. Kammerer , and J. Fröbisch . 2014. CT reconstruction and systematic position of the enigmatic dicynodont Prodicynodon beaufortensis. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 34(3, Supplement): 194–195.