''Brithopus'' is an extinct genus of
dinocephalia
Dinocephalians (terrible heads) are a clade of large-bodied early therapsids that flourished in the Early and Middle Permian between 279.5 and 260 million years ago (Ma), but became extinct during the Capitanian mass extinction event. Dinocephal ...
n
therapsids. It contains a single species, ''Brithopus priscus'', known from fragmentary remains found in the Copper
Sandstones near
Isheevo,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
.
Description
''Brithopus'' was fairly large, reaching a length of 2.5–3 m (8–10 ft).
The skull was similar to ''
Titanophoneus'', but more massive and heavily built.
[Olson, E.C. (1962). "]Late Permian
Late may refer to:
* LATE, an acronym which could stand for:
** Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, a proposed form of dementia
** Local-authority trading enterprise, a New Zealand business law
** Local average treatment effect, ...
terrestrial vertebrates, U.S.A. and U.S.S.R." ''Transactions of the American Philosophical Society'', New Series, 52: 1–224.
Classification
''B. priscus'' was first named in 1838 and was traditionally classified in the
Anteosauria, a group of carnivorous dinocephalians. ''Brithopus'' served as the basis for the family Brithopodidae, which once included many anteosaurian species. Because it is based on fragmentary material, ''Brithopus'' is regarded as a ''
nomen dubium'' by some researchers. ''Brithopus'' was later considered a possible
estemmenosuchid,
[Kammerer, C. F. 2010. Systematics of the Anteosauria (Therapsida: Dinocephalia). ''Journal of Systematic Palaeontology'', 9, 261-304.] a type of herbivorous
tapinocephalia
The Tapinocephalia are one of the major groups of dinocephalian therapsids and the major herbivorous group. Tapinocephalia has been found to consist of three clades: Styracocephalidae, Titanosuchidae, and the very successful Tapinocephalidae. No ...
n therapsid.
''
Dinosaurus'' and ''
Eurosaurus
''Eurosaurus'' is an extinct genus of non-mammalian synapsids. Its taxonomic history is intertwined with that of the therapsids '' Brithopus'' and '' Orthopus'' and the temnospondyl '' Melosaurus''.
In the 1830s and 1840s, Permian fossils were fo ...
'' have both been considered synonyms of ''Brithopus''.
[Battail, B., and Surkov, M. V. (2000). "Mammal-like reptiles from Russia." ''The Age of Dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia'', 86-119.]
See also
*
List of therapsids
This list of therapsids is an attempt to create a comprehensive listing of all genera that have ever been included in the Therapsida excluding mammals and purely vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly accepted genera, but also genera tha ...
References
External links
Message to the Dinosaur Mailing List briefly detailing the history of the name
Tapinocephalians
Prehistoric therapsid genera
Monotypic prehistoric animal genera
Fossils of Russia
Fossil taxa described in 1838
{{Paleo-Therapsid-stub