Varanosaurus
Temporal range: Early Permian,
A reconstruction of Varanosaurus acutirostris
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Family: Ophiacodontidae
Genus: Varanosaurus
Broili, 1904
Type species
Varanosaurus acutirostris
Broili, 1904
Species[1]
  • V. acutirostris Broili 1904 (type)
  • V. wichitaensis Romer 1937

Varanosaurus ('monitor lizard') is an extinct genus of early ophiacodontid synapsid that lived during the Artinskian[2] and Kungurian ages of the Permian.[3]

Description

Varanosaurus acutirostris being devoured by Dimetrodon limbatus

As its name implies, Varanosaurus may have looked superficially similar to present-day monitor lizards, though not related at all.

Varanosaurus had a flattened, elongated skull and a pointed snout with a row of sharp teeth, including two pairs of conspicuous pseudocanines, implying that it was an active predator.[4]

Varanosaurus probably lived in swamps, competing with the larger Ophiacodon for food.

Classification

Below is a cladogram modified from the analysis of Benson (2012):[5]

Tseajaia campi

Limnoscelis paludis

Amniota

Captorhinus spp.

Protorothyris archeri

Synapsida

Caseasauria

Ianthodon schultzei

Edaphosauridae

Sphenacodontia

Varanopidae

Ophiacodontidae

Archaeothyris florensis

Varanosaurus acutirostris

Ophiacodon spp.

Stereophallodon ciscoensis

See also

References

  1. "Varanosaurus". Fossilworks. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  2. A. S. Romer. 1937. New genera and species of pelycosaurian reptiles. Proceedings of the New England Zoölogical Club 16:89-95
  3. R. R. Reisz. 1986. Pelycosauria. Handbuch der Paläoherpetologie / Encyclopedia of Paleoherpetology 17A:1-102
  4. Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 187. ISBN 978-1-84028-152-1.
  5. Benson, R.J. (2012). "Interrelationships of basal synapsids: cranial and postcranial morphological partitions suggest different topologies". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 10 (4): 601–624. doi:10.1080/14772019.2011.631042. S2CID 84706899.

Further reading

  • Benes, Josef. Prehistoric Animals and Plants. Pg. 90. Artia: Prague, 1979.


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