Dicynodon
Extinct genus of dicynodonts / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Dicynodon ("two dog-teeth") is a genus of dicynodont therapsid that flourished during the Upper Permian period. Like all dicynodonts, it was an herbivorous animal. This synapsid was toothless, except for prominent tusks, hence the name. It probably cropped vegetation with a horny beak, much like a tortoise, while the tusks may have been used for digging up roots and tubers.
Dicynodon | |
---|---|
Skull of Dicynodon lacerticeps | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Synapsida |
Clade: | Therapsida |
Suborder: | †Anomodontia |
Clade: | †Dicynodontia |
Clade: | †Bidentalia |
Infraorder: | †Dicynodontoidea |
Family: | †Dicynodontidae Owen, 1859 |
Genus: | †Dicynodon Owen, 1845 |
Species | |
†D. lacerticeps Owen, 1845 (type) | |
Synonyms | |
Many species of Dicynodon have been named, and the genus is considered a wastebasket taxon. A 2011 study of the genus found most of the species to represent a paraphyletic grouping, with the only valid members of Dicynodon being D. lacerticeps and D. huenei.[1] A 2019 study named a new species D. angielczyki, but simultaneously transferred D. huenei to the genus Daptocephalus.[2]