Procolophonoidea is an extinct
superfamily
SUPERFAMILY is a database and search platform of structural and functional annotation for all proteins and genomes. It classifies amino acid sequences into known structural domains, especially into SCOP superfamilies. Domains are functional, str ...
of
procolophonia
The Procolophonia are a suborder of herbivorous reptiles that lived from the Middle Permian till the end of the Triassic period. They were originally included as a suborder of the Cotylosauria (later renamed Captorhinida Carroll 1988) but ar ...
n
parareptiles. Members were characteristically small, stocky, and
lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...
-like in appearance.
Fossils have been found worldwide from many continents including
Antarctica. The first members appeared during the
Late Permian in the
Karoo Basin of
South Africa.
Taxonomy
Procolophonoidea includes the families
Owenettidae and
Procolophonidae. ''
Sclerosaurus'', which is placed within its own family Sclerosauridae, may be a member of the superfamily as well. In 1997, De Braga and Rieppel defined this same taxon (the oldest common ancestor of Procolophonidae and Owenettidae and all its descendants) using the name Procolophoniformes.
[Jalil, N. E., & Janvier, P. (2005). Les pareiasaures (Amniota, Parareptilia) du Permien supérieur du Bassin d’Argana, Maroc. Geodiversitas, 27(1), 35-132.]
When the superfamily was constructed in 1956, it was thought to be within the
anthracosaur suborder
Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and ...
Diadectomorpha. Since then it has been placed within the suborder Procolophonia along with the
pareiasaur
Pareiasaurs (meaning "cheek lizards") are an extinct clade of large, herbivorous parareptiles. Members of the group were armoured with scutes which covered large areas of the body. They first appeared in southern Pangea during the Middle Permian, ...
s, a group of large herbivorous Permian parareptiles.
[Modesto, S. P. and Damiani, R. (2007). The procolophonoid reptile ''Sauropareion anoplus'' from the lowermost Triassic of South Africa. ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' 27(2):337-349.]
*
Procolophonia
The Procolophonia are a suborder of herbivorous reptiles that lived from the Middle Permian till the end of the Triassic period. They were originally included as a suborder of the Cotylosauria (later renamed Captorhinida Carroll 1988) but ar ...
**Procolophonoidea
***Family
Owenettidae
****Species ''
"Owenetta" kitchingorum''
****Genus ''
Barasaurus
''Barasaurus'' is an extinct genus of owenettid procolophonoid parareptile known from the late Late Permian and early Early Triassic of Madagascar. It contains a single species, ''Barasaurus besairiei''.
Discovery
''Barasaurus besairiei'', the t ...
''
****Genus ''
Candelaria''
****Genus ''
Owenetta''
****Genus ''
Ruhuhuaria''
****Genus ''
Saurodektes
''Saurodektes'' is an extinct genus of owenettid procolophonoid parareptile known from the earliest Triassic deposits of Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. It was first named by Sean P. Modesto, Ross J. Damiani, Johann Neveling and Adam M. Yate ...
''
***Family
Procolophonidae
****? Genus ''
Gomphiosauridion''
****? Genus ''
Kinelia''
****? Genus ''
Spondylolestes''
****? Genus ''
Xenodiphyodon''
****Genus ''
Coletta''
****Genus ''
Kitchingnathus''
****Genus ''
Lasasaurus
''Lasasaurus'' is an extinct genus of procolophonid parareptile known from the Early Triassic Middle Sakamena Formation, of northern Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i M ...
''
****Genus ''
Phaanthosaurus''
****Genus ''
Pintosaurus''
****Genus ''
Sauropareion''
****Genus ''
Tichvinskia''
****Subfmily
Leptopleuroninae
****Subfmily
Procolophoninae
****Subfmily
Theledectinae
References
External links
Introduction to ProcolophonoideaUniversity of California Museum of Paleontology (UCMP)
Procolophonoideain the
Paleobiology Database
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7247458
Procolophonomorphs
Prehistoric reptiles of Europe
Prehistoric reptiles of Africa
Prehistoric reptiles of Asia
Prehistoric reptiles of North America
Prehistoric reptiles of South America
Lopingian first appearances
Rhaetian extinctions