Cistecephalus

Cistecephalus
Temporal range: Wuchiapingian, 259.8–254.1 Ma
Skull in front view, Natural History Museum, Bonn University
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Clade: Therapsida
Suborder: †Anomodontia
Clade: †Dicynodontia
Family: †Cistecephalidae
Genus: †Cistecephalus
Owen, 1876
Type species
†Cistecephalus microrhinus
Owen, 1876

Cistecephalus is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsid from the Late Permian of southern Africa (South Africa and Zambia). It was a small, specialised, burrowing dicynodont, possibly with habits similar to a modern mole. The head was flattened and wedge-shaped, the body long, and the forelimbs very strong, with similarities in structure to the forelimb of modern burrowing mammals.[1]

Cistecephalus appears to have been endemic to the Karoo Basin of South Africa.[2] It is most common in the Cistecephalus Assemblage Zone, in which it dominates the fauna, and is also found in the slightly older Tropidostoma Assemblage Zone.[3]

It was one of the first genera of dicynodonts to be described, by Richard Owen, in 1876.

Cistecephalus could reach up to 60 centimetres (24 in) in length.

  1. ^ Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 190. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kammerer16 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Nasterlack12 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).