Arctops

Arctops ("bear face") is an extinct genus of gorgonopsian therapsids known from the Late Permian of South and Eastern Africa. It measured up to 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) in length and its skull was 30 centimetres (12 in) long.^[1] The type species is Arctops willistoni, named from a poorly prepared and incomplete skull. A second species was named A. watsoni based on a complete skull in 1953, followed by a third in 1970, A. kitchingi, from a smaller, juvenile skull.^[2] Both were formally synonymized with A. willistoni by Christian Kammerer in 2017.^[3] An additional species, A. umulunshi, was described in 2025 from the Madumabisa Mudstone Formation of Zambia, named after the indigenous Icibemba word for "hunter".^[4]

Artist's interpretation of A. willistoni

Arctops Temporal range: Late Permian
Artist's interpretation of A. willistoni
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Synapsida
Clade:	Therapsida
Clade:	†Gorgonopsia
Family:	†Gorgonopsidae
Genus:	†Arctops Watson, 1914
Type species
Arctops willistoni Watson, 1914
Other species
†A. umulunshi Mann & Sidor, 2025
Synonyms
Synonyms of A. willistoni: A. watsoni Brink & Kitching, 1953 A. kitchingi Signogneau, 1970