Criocephalosaurus

Criocephalosaurus
Temporal range: Guadalupian
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Criocephalosaurus skull, South African Museum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Clade: Therapsida
Suborder: †Dinocephalia
Family: †Tapinocephalidae
Subtribe: †Moschopina
Genus: †Criocephalosaurus
Kammerer & Sidor, 2002
Species
  • †C. gunyankaensis Boonstra, 1968
  • †C. vanderbyli Broom, 1928
Synonyms
  • Criocephalus preoccupied

Criocephalosaurus (Greek for “ram head”) is an extinct genus of tapinocephalian therapsids that lived in Southern Africa during the Guadalupian epoch of the Permian. They are the latest surviving dinocephalians, extending past the Abrahamskraal Formation into the lowermost Poortjie Member of the Teekloof Formation in South Africa.[1] They are also regarded as the most derived of the dinocephalians, alongside Tapinocephalus, and the most abundant in the fossil record.[2]

  1. ^ Day, Michael O.; Güven, Saniye; Abdala, Fernando; Jirah, Sifelani; Rubidge, Bruce; Almond, John (2015-03-27). "Youngest dinocephalian fossils extend the Tapinocephalus Zone, Karoo Basin, South Africa". South African Journal of Science. 111 (3/4): 1–5. doi:10.17159/sajs.2015/20140309. ISSN 1996-7489.
  2. ^ Boonstra, L.D (1969). "The fauna of the Tapinocephalus zone (Beaufort beds of the Karoo)". Annals of the South African Museum. 56: 1–73.