| Scylacops Temporal range: Late Permian; 259.0 to 254.0 Ma
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| Skull in lateral, dorsal, and ventral views | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Synapsida |
| Clade: | Therapsida |
| Clade: | †Gorgonopsia |
| Family: | †Gorgonopsidae |
| Subfamily: | †Gorgonopsinae |
| Genus: | †Scylacops Broom, 1913 |
| S. capensis and S. bigendens | |
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Type species S. capensis | |
Scylacops (meaning "face that tears") is an extinct genus of Gorgonopsia. It was first named by Broom in 1913,[1] and contains two species, S. bigendens, and S. capensis. Its fossils have been found in South Africa and Zambia. It is believed to be closely related to the Gorgonopsian Sauroctonus progressus. Scylacops was a moderately sized Gorgonopsid.[2]
Scylacops is an carnivorous therapsid, existing from 259.0 to 254.0 Ma. S. bigendens was first described by Brink and James Kitching in 1953, although its original description was Sycocephalus bigendens.[3]
According to the paleobiology database Scylacops specimens have been found in the following locations in South Africa; Uitsspansfontein at Beaufort West, Dunedin, Wellwood, and Sondagsriviershoek. Scylacops is also known from Zambia.[2]
- ^ Broom, R. "On the Gorgonopsia, a Sub-order of the Mammal-like Reptiles." Proceedings of the general meetings for scientific business of the Zoological Society of London. (1913): 225-230.
- ^ a b Battail, Bernard, and Mikhail V. Surkov. "Mammal-like reptiles from Russia." The age of dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia (2000): 86-119.
- ^ Brink, A. S., and J. W. Kitching. "Studies on new specimens of the Gorgonopsia." Palaeontologia africana 1 (1953): 1-28.