''Moradisaurus'' is an extinct genus of large

captorhinid Captorhinidae is an extinct family of tetrapods, traditionally considered primitive reptiles, known from the late Carboniferous to the Late Permian. They had a cosmopolitan distribution across Pangea. Description Captorhinids are a clade of ...

tetrapod A tetrapod (; from Ancient Greek :wiktionary:τετρα-#Ancient Greek, τετρα- ''(tetra-)'' 'four' and :wiktionary:πούς#Ancient Greek, πούς ''(poús)'' 'foot') is any four-Limb (anatomy), limbed vertebrate animal of the clade Tetr ...

s, with a single species ''Moradisaurus grandis'',P. Taquet. (1969). Première découverte en Afrique d'un Reptile Captorhinomorphe (Cotylosaurien). ''Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l'Academie des Sciences Paris, Série D'' 268:779-781 known from the late

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years, from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 Mya. It is the s ...

(

Lopingian The Lopingian is the uppermost series/last epoch of the Permian. It is the last epoch of the Paleozoic. The Lopingian was preceded by the Guadalupian and followed by the Early Triassic. The Lopingian is often synonymous with the informal te ...

) aged Moradi Formation of

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

. It is the largest captorhinid known, estimated to have reached a snout-vent length of over two metres. Similar to other members of

Moradisaurinae Captorhinidae is an extinct family of tetrapods, traditionally considered primitive reptiles, known from the late Carboniferous to the Late Permian. They had a cosmopolitan distribution across Pangea. Description Captorhinids are a clade of sm ...

, it possessed multiple tooth rows, which is associated with a high-fiber

herbivorous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat n ...

diet. The holotype is MNHN MRD1, a skull that was discovered during the late 1960s.

References

Captorhinidae Lopingian tetrapods of Africa Fossils of Niger Fossil taxa described in 1969 Taxa named by Philippe Taquet {{Paleo-reptile-stub