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''Pristerognathus'' is an 
These animals were roughly dog-sized, and are characterized by long, narrow skulls with large canines. They are likely to have lived in woodlands, and preyed on smaller therapsids and millerettids of the time.
''Pristerognathus'' was described in 1895 by
extinct
Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...
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 therocephalia
Therocephalia is an extinct clade of therapsids (mammals and their close extinct relatives) from the Permian and Triassic periods. The therocephalians ("beast-heads") are named after their large skulls, which, along with the structure of their te ...
n, known from the late Middle 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 ...
(Capitanian
In the geologic timescale, the Capitanian is an age or stage of the Permian. It is also the uppermost or latest of three subdivisions of the Guadalupian Epoch or Series. The Capitanian lasted between and million years ago. It was preceded by t ...
) 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 lends its name to the now defunct Pristerognathus Assemblage Zone
The ''Pristerognathus'' Assemblage Zone is a tetrapod assemblage zone or biozone which correlates to the upper Abrahamskraal Formation and lowermost Teekloof Formation, Adelaide Subgroup of the Beaufort Group, a fossiliferous and geologically ...
of the Beaufort Group
The Beaufort Group is the third of the main subdivisions of the Karoo Supergroup in South Africa. It is composed of a lower Adelaide Subgroup and an upper Tarkastad Subgroup. It follows conformably after the Ecca Group and unconformably under ...
of South African geological strata (now mostly equivalent to the lower ''Endothiodon'' Assemblage Zone). ''Pristerognathus'' was a medium-sized therocephalian with a skull and a total length up to .
These animals were roughly dog-sized, and are characterized by long, narrow skulls with large canines. They are likely to have lived in woodlands, and preyed on smaller therapsids and millerettids of the time.
''Pristerognathus'' was described in 1895 by Harry Seeley
Harry Govier Seeley (18 February 1839 – 8 January 1909) was a British paleontologist.
Early life
Seeley was born in London on 18 February 1839, the second son of Richard Hovill Seeley, a goldsmith, and his second wife Mary Govier. When his fa ...
who named 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 ...
''Pristerognathus polyodon''. Many other species were named in the years following, such as ''P. baini'', ''P. minor'', and ''P. vanderbyli'', however, they have all since been recognised as referable to other species (such as ''Glanosuchus
''Glanosuchus'' is a genus of Scylacosauridae, scylacosaurid therocephalian from the Late Permian of South Africa. The type species ''G. macrops'' was named by Robert Broom in 1904. ''Glanosuchus'' had a middle ear structure that was intermediate ...
'' and '' Pristerognathoides'') or are too dubious to determine. As such, ''P. polyodon'' is the only definitive species of ''Pristerognathus''.
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
{{Taxonbar, from=Q139301 Guadalupian synapsids Scylacosauridae Guadalupian synapsids of Africa Fossil taxa described in 1895 Taxa named by Harry Seeley Guadalupian genus first appearances Guadalupian genus extinctions