''Titanophoneus'' ("titanic murderer") is an extinct genus of carnivorous

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. ...

n therapsid from 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. ...

. It is classified within the family

Anteosauridae Anteosauridae is an extinct family of large carnivorous dinocephalian therapsids that are known from the Middle Permian of Asia, Africa, and South America.These animals were by far the largest predators of the Permian period, with skulls reachin ...

. The

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

is ''Titanophoneus potens''. Remains of ''Titanophoneus'' have been found at Isheevo,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Description

An adult skull would have reached 80 cm with a heavy long snout. The long tail and short limbs show the species to be a primitive therapsid, unlike ''

Inostrancevia ''Inostrancevia'' is an extinction, extinct genus of large carnivorous therapsids which lived during the Late Permian in what is now European Russia and Southern Africa. The first-known fossils of this gorgonopsian were discovered in the context ...

,'' which was more advanced. The structure of the limbs and the density of the bone are designed for a sprawling stance. The temporal opening is more advanced than

Estemmenosuchidae Estemmenosuchidae is an extinct family of large, very early herbivorous therapsids that flourished during the Guadalupian period. They are distinguished by horn-like structures, probably for display or agonistic behavior. Apart from the best k ...

, but less advanced than ''Inostrancevia''. The teeth are large with 12 large palate incisors followed by 2 canines and various smaller back teeth. The lower palate is the same as the upper but without the canine teeth. The appearance of ''Titanophoneus'' is reminiscent to the

sphenacodontid Sphenacodontidae (Greek: "wedge point tooth family") is an extinct family of sphenacodontoid synapsids. Small to large, advanced, carnivorous, Late Pennsylvanian to middle Permian "pelycosaurs". The most recent one, ''Dimetrodon angelensis'', is ...

pelycosaurs Pelycosaur ( ) is an older term for basal or primitive Late Paleozoic synapsids, excluding the therapsids and their descendants. Previously, the term mammal-like reptile was used, and Pelycosauria was considered an order, but this is now thoug ...

, which included ''

Dimetrodon ''Dimetrodon'' ( or ; ) is an extinct genus of sphenacodontid synapsid that lived during the Cisuralian (Early Permian) Epoch (geology), epoch of the Permian period, around 295–272 million years ago. With most species measuring long and ...

''.

Gallery

File:Titanophoneus 3.jpg, Reconstruction of a ''T. potens'' feasting on a ''

Ulemosaurus ''Ulemosaurus'' is an extinct genus of dinocephalian therapsids that lived 265 to 260 million years ago, at Isheevo in Russian Tatarstan. It was a tapinocephalid, a group of bulky herbivores which flourished in the Middle Permian. ''Ulemosauru ...

'' File:Titanophoneus2.jpg, Reconstruction of a pair of'' T. potens '' File:Titanophoneus Moscow.jpg, Fossil skeleton of a juvenile individual. File:Doliosauriscus1DB.jpg, Reconstruction of ''T. adamanteus'' File:Titanophoneus chart2 DB15.jpg, Two specimens of ''T. potens'' compared to a human

References

External links

Taxonomy
{{Taxonbar, from=Q284062 Anteosaurs Prehistoric therapsid genera Guadalupian synapsids of Europe Fossil taxa described in 1938 Taxa named by Ivan Yefremov Roadian life Wordian life

Description

Gallery

See also

References

External links