Procolophonoidea is an extinct superfamily of

procolophonia The Procolophonia are a suborder of herbivorous reptiles that lived from the Middle Permian till the end of the Triassic period. They were originally included as a suborder of the Cotylosauria (later renamed Captorhinida Carroll 1988) but are ...

parareptile Parareptilia ("at the side of reptiles") is a subclass or clade of basal sauropsids (reptiles), typically considered the sister taxon to Eureptilia (the group that likely contains all living reptiles and birds). Parareptiles first arose near th ...

s. Members were characteristically small, stocky, and lizard-like in appearance.

Fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s have been found worldwide from many continents including

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

. The first members appeared during the

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, ...

in the Karoo Basin of

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 ...

Taxonomy

Procolophonoidea includes the families

Owenettidae Owenettidae is an extinct family of procolophonian parareptiles. Fossils have been found primarily from Africa and Madagascar, with one genus present from South America. It is the sister taxon to the family Procolophonidae. The family was const ...

and

Procolophonidae Procolophonidae is an extinct family of small, lizard-like parareptiles known from the Late Permian to Late Triassic that were distributed across Pangaea, having been reported from Europe, North America, China, South Africa, South America, Anta ...

. ''

Sclerosaurus ''Sclerosaurus'' is an extinct genus of procolophonid parareptile known from the Early to Middle Triassic of Germany and Switzerland. It contains a single species, ''Sclerosaurus armatus''. It was fairly small about 30 cm long, distingu ...

'', which is placed within its own family Sclerosauridae, may be a member of the superfamily as well. In 1997, De Braga and Rieppel defined this same taxon (the oldest common ancestor of Procolophonidae and Owenettidae and all its descendants) using the name Procolophoniformes.Jalil, N. E., & Janvier, P. (2005). Les pareiasaures (Amniota, Parareptilia) du Permien supérieur du Bassin d’Argana, Maroc. Geodiversitas, 27(1), 35-132. When the superfamily was constructed in 1956, it was thought to be within the

anthracosaur Anthracosauria is an order of extinct reptile-like amphibians (in the broad sense) that flourished during the Carboniferous and early Permian periods, although precisely which species are included depends on one's definition of the taxon. "Ant ...

suborder

Diadectomorpha Diadectomorpha is a clade of large tetrapods that lived in Euramerica during the Carboniferous and Early Permian periods and in Asia during Late Permian (Wuchiapingian), They have typically been classified as advanced reptiliomorphs (transitiona ...

. Since then it has been placed within the suborder Procolophonia along with the pareiasaurs, a group of large herbivorous Permian parareptiles.Modesto, S. P. and Damiani, R. (2007). The procolophonoid reptile ''Sauropareion anoplus'' from the lowermost Triassic of South Africa. ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' 27(2):337-349. *

Procolophonia The Procolophonia are a suborder of herbivorous reptiles that lived from the Middle Permian till the end of the Triassic period. They were originally included as a suborder of the Cotylosauria (later renamed Captorhinida Carroll 1988) but are ...

**Procolophonoidea ***Family

****Species '' "Owenetta" kitchingorum'' ****Genus '' Barasaurus'' ****Genus '' Candelaria'' ****Genus ''

Owenetta ''Owenetta'' is an extinct genus of owenettid procolophonian parareptile. Fossils have been found from the Beaufort Group in the Karoo Basin of South Africa. Although most procolophonians lived during the Triassic, ''Owenetta'' existed during ...

'' ****Genus '' Ruhuhuaria'' ****Genus '' Saurodektes'' ***Family

****? Genus '' Gomphiosauridion'' ****? Genus '' Kinelia'' ****? Genus '' Spondylolestes'' ****? Genus '' Xenodiphyodon'' ****Genus '' Coletta'' ****Genus ''

Kitchingnathus ''Kitchingnathus'' (Kitchings' mandible) is an extinct genus of basal procolophonid parareptile from Early Triassic (early Olenekian stage) deposits of Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. It is known from the holotype BP/1/1187, skull and p ...

'' ****Genus '' Lasasaurus'' ****Genus ''

Phaanthosaurus ''Phaanthosaurus'' is an extinct genus of basal procolophonid parareptile from early Triassic (Induan stage) deposits of Nizhnii Novgorod, Russian Federation. It is known from the holotype PIN 1025/1, a mandible (a dentary). It was collected ...

'' ****Genus ''

Pintosaurus ''Pintosaurus'' is an extinct genus of basal procolophonid parareptile from Late Triassic deposits of northeastern Uruguay. It is known from the holotype FC-DPV 1181, a partial skull. It was collected from the Buena Vista Formation of the ...

'' ****Genus ''

Sauropareion ''Sauropareion'' (meaning "lizard cheek") is an extinct genus of basal procolophonid parareptile from earliest Triassic (early Induan stage) deposits of Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. It is known from the holotype SAM PK-11192, skull an ...

'' ****Genus ''

Tichvinskia ''Tichvinskia'' is an extinct genus of procolophonid parareptile from the Early Triassic The Early Triassic is the first of three epochs of the Triassic Period of the geologic timescale. It spans the time between Ma and Ma (million years ag ...

'' ****Subfmily

Leptopleuroninae Leptopleuroninae is an extinct subfamily of procolophonid Procolophonidae is an extinct family of small, lizard-like parareptiles known from the Late Permian to Late Triassic that were distributed across Pangaea, having been reported from Eu ...

****Subfmily

Procolophoninae Procolophoninae is an extinct subfamily of procolophonid parareptiles from the late Early Triassic to the early Middle Triassic (Olenekian and Anisian stages) of Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Europe and South America. Currently, the oldest-known pr ...

****Subfmily

Theledectinae Theledectinae is an extinct subfamily of parareptiles within the family Procolophonidae. Theledectines existed in South Africa, China and Australia during the Early-Middle Triassic period (Induan to Anisian stages). Theledectinae was named by Ju ...

References

External links

Introduction to Procolophonoidea
University of California Museum of Paleontology (UCMP)
Procolophonoidea
in the

Paleobiology Database The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals, plants, and microorganisms. History The Paleobiology Database (PBDB) originated in the NCEAS-funded Phanerozoic Marine Pale ...

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7247458 Procolophonomorphs Prehistoric reptiles of Europe Prehistoric reptiles of Africa Prehistoric reptiles of Asia Prehistoric reptiles of North America Prehistoric reptiles of South America Lopingian first appearances Rhaetian extinctions