''Mormosaurus'' ("
Mormo
Mormo (, ''Mormō'') was a female spirit in Greek folklore, whose name was invoked by mothers and nurses to frighten children to keep them from misbehaving.
The term mormolyce (; pl. ''mormolykeia'' ), also spelt mormolyceum ( ''mormolukeîon'' ...
's Lizard") is an extinct genus of
tapinocephalid
Tapinocephalidae was an advanced family of tapinocephalians. It is defined as the clade containing ''Ulemosaurus'', ''Tapinocaninus'', and the Tapinocephalinae. They are known from both Russia and South Africa. In all probability, the Tapinocepha ...
dinocephalian therapsid from the
Guadalupian
The Guadalupian is the second and middle Series (stratigraphy), series/Epoch (geology), 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 an ...
epoch of
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 ...
. It was first named by Watson in 1914, and contains one species, ''M. seeleyi''. Members of ''Mormosaurus'' had a long skull. Its taxonomic status is not settled, as some authorities synonymize it with ''
Keratocephalus
''Keratocephalus'' ("horned head") is an extinct genus of tapinocephalian therapsids from the early Capitanian age of South Africa.
Distribution
It was found in the Lower and Middle ''Tapinocephalus'' Assemblage Zone of the Karoo deposits ...
''.
See also
*
List of therapsids
This list of therapsids is an attempt to create a comprehensive listing of all Genus, genera that have ever been included in the Therapsida excluding mammals and purely vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly accepted genera, but also gene ...
References
*
* ''The Osteology of the Reptiles'' by Alfred Sherwood Romer
External links
''Mormosaurus''in the
Paleobiology Database
The Paleobiology Database (PBDB) is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals, plants, and microorganisms.
History
The Paleobiology Database originated in the NCEAS-funded Phanerozoic Marine Pale ...
www.paleofile.com - Alphabetical list, section M
Tapinocephalia
Prehistoric therapsid genera
Fossil taxa described in 1914
Taxa named by D. M. S. Watson
{{Paleo-therapsid-stub