''Icticephalus'' is an extinct

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of therocephalian therapsids from the Middle and

Late Permian Late or LATE may refer to: Everyday usage * Tardy, or late, not being on time * Late (or the late) may refer to a person who is dead Music * ''Late'' (The 77s album), 2000 * Late (Alvin Batiste album), 1993 * Late!, a pseudonym used by Dave Groh ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. 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 ...

''Icticephalus polycynodon'' was named from the ''Tapinocephalus'' Assemblage Zone by South African paleontologist

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

in 1915. Specimens of ''Icticephalus'' have also been described from the ''Cistecephalus'' Assemblage Zone. Broom originally placed ''Icticephalus'' in the Scaloposauridae, a group of very small therocephalians. Most scaloposaurids are now thought to be juvenile forms of other therocephalians, and Scaloposauridae is no longer recognized as a valid grouping. ''Icticephalus'' and other former scaloposaurids are now classified as basal members of Baurioidea.

References

Lopingian synapsids of Africa Guadalupian synapsids of Africa Baurioidea Therocephalia genera Guadalupian synapsids Guadalupian genus first appearances Capitanian genera Wuchiapingian genera Lopingian genus extinctions {{paleo-therapsid-stub