''Lycosuchus'' ("wolf crocodile") is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomencla ...

carnivorous A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other so ...

therocephalian Therocephalia is an extinct suborder of eutheriodont therapsids (mammals and their close relatives) from the Permian and Triassic. The therocephalians ("beast-heads") are named after their large skulls, which, along with the structure of their t ...

s which lived in the

Middle Permian The Guadalupian is the second and middle series/epoch of the Permian. The Guadalupian was preceded by the Cisuralian and followed by the Lopingian. It is named after the Guadalupe Mountains of New Mexico and Texas, and dates between 272.95 ± 0 ...

265—260 Ma existing for approximately . As a member of the Lycosuchidae, the genus represents one of the earliest diverging therocephalians. The type species ''Lycosuchus vanderrieti'' is known from a handful of well-preserved specimens featuring the cranium and lower jaw; the holotype US D173 housed at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, is a near complete occluded skull. Specimen MB.R. 995, housed at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Germany, consists of a near complete and isolated lower jaw, along with a partial snout and brain case. With the help of μCT data, Pusch et al (2020) described the endocranial anatomy of ''Lycosuchus vanderrieti''. It was a medium-sized predator, reaching 1.2 m (3.8 ft) in length with a skull 23 cm long., typical of early therocephalians. ''L. vanderrieti'' bore two functional canines in each maxilla, possibly due to a protracted tooth replacement. Both the upper canines and the single canine of the lower jaw are serrated. Discovered in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, it was named by

paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of foss ...

Robert Broom Robert Broom FRS FRSE (30 November 1866 6 April 1951) was a British- South African doctor and palaeontologist. He qualified as a medical practitioner in 1895 and received his DSc in 1905 from the University of Glasgow. From 1903 to 1910, h ...

R. Broom (1913) ''A revision of the reptiles of the Karroo'' in 1903 and later assigned by him to

Therocephalia Therocephalia is an extinct suborder of eutheriodont therapsids (mammals and their close relatives) from the Permian and Triassic. The therocephalians ("beast-heads") are named after their large skulls, which, along with the structure of thei ...

Notes and references

* R. Broom (1913) A revision of the reptiles of the Karroo. ''Annals of the South African Museum'' 7(6):361-366

External links

*http://fossils.valdosta.edu/fossil_pages/fossils_per/t72.html Cast of skull and jaw courtesy of the National Museum, Bloemfontein South Africa Therocephalia genera Guadalupian synapsids Guadalupian synapsids of Africa Fossil taxa described in 1903 Taxa named by Robert Broom Guadalupian genus first appearances Guadalupian genus extinctions {{Paleo-therapsid-stub

See also

Notes and references

External links