Varanosaurus
| Varanosaurus Temporal range: Early Permian, 280 Ma | |
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| Varanosaurus | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Synapsida |
| Family: | †Ophiacodontidae |
| Genus: | †Varanosaurus Broili, 1904 |
| Type species | |
| †Varanosaurus acutirostris Broili, 1904 | |
| Species[1] | |
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Varanosaurus ('monitor lizard') is an extinct genus of early pelycosaur synapsid that lived during the Kungurian.[2]
Varanosaurus acutirostris
Description
Life reconstruction of Varanosaurus
Varanosaurus acutirostris being devoured by Dimetrodon limbatus
As its name implies, Varanosaurus may have looked superficially similar to present-day monitor lizards.
Varanosaurus was a small, nimble synapsid and grew up to 1–1.5 m in length with a skull length 14 cm long.[2] It had a flattened, elongated skull and a pointed snout with a row of sharp teeth, including two pairs of conspicuous pseudocanines, implying that it was an active predator.[3]
Varanosaurus probably lived in swamps, competing with the larger Ophiacodon for food.
Classification
Below is a cladogram modified from the analysis of Benson (2012):[4]
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See also
References
- ↑ "Varanosaurus". Fossilworks. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
- 1 2 "Varanosaurus". Prehistoric Wildlife. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
- ↑ Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 187. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
- ↑ Benson, R.J. (2012). "Interrelationships of basal synapsids: cranial and postcranial morphological partitions suggest different topologies". Journal of Systematic Paleontology. in press (4): 601. doi:10.1080/14772019.2011.631042.
Further reading
- Benes, Josef. Prehistoric Animals and Plants. Pg. 90. Artia: Prague, 1979.
| Ophiacodontidae |  | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Varanopidae | |||||||||||||||||||
| Caseasauria | |||||||||||||||||||
| Edaphosauridae | |||||||||||||||||||
| Sphenacodontia | |||||||||||||||||||
| Others | |||||||||||||||||||
| Related categories |
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