''Admetophoneus'' is a dubious

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 n ...

of non- mammalian

synapsid Synapsids + (, 'arch') > () "having a fused arch"; synonymous with ''theropsids'' (Greek, "beast-face") are one of the two major groups of animals that evolved from basal amniotes, the other being the sauropsids, the group that includes rep ...

from Russia. Its type and only species is ''Admetophoneus kargalensis''.

History

''Admetophoneus'' was named by the Russian paleontologist Ivan Efremov in 1954, based on some teeth, a fragmentary maxilla, and a humerus. It was originally classified as a member of

Brithopodidae ''Brithopus'' is an extinct genus of dinocephalian therapsids. It contains a single species, ''Brithopus priscus'', known from fragmentary remains found in the Copper Sandstones near Isheevo, Russia. Description ''Brithopus'' was fairly large, ...

. Later, it was classified in

Phthinosuchidae ''Phthinosuchus'' is an extinct genus of therapsids from the Middle Permian of Russia. ''Phthinosuchus'' is the sole member of the family Phthinosuchidae. ''Phthinosuchus'' may have been one of the most primitive therapsids, meaning that its ance ...

. Recent study, however, has shown that it is a member of

Anteosauria Anteosaurs are a group of large, primitive carnivorous dinocephalian therapsids with large canines and incisors and short limbs, that are known from the Middle Permian of South Africa, Russia, China, and Brazil. Some grew very large, with skulls ...

, but lacks diagnostic features. It is essentially identical to the contemporaneous ''

Titanophoneus ''Titanophoneus'' ("titanic murderer") is an extinct genus of carnivorous dinocephalian therapsid from the Middle Permian. It is classified within the family Anteosauridae. The type species is ''Titanophoneus potens''. Remains of ''Titanophoneus' ...

'', and could be synonymous with it, but its poor preservation means that it cannot be proven.

References

The main groups of non-mammalian synapsids at Mikko's Phylogeny Archive
Anteosaurs Prehistoric therapsid genera Fossil taxa described in 1954 Taxa named by Ivan Yefremov {{paleo-therapsid-stub

History

See also

References