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Ianthodon
Extinct genus of synapsids From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Ianthodon is an extinct genus of basal haptodontiform synapsids from the Late Carboniferous about 304 million years ago. The taxon was discovered and named by Kissel & Reisz in 2004.[1] The only species in the taxon, Ianthodon schultzei, was found by separating it from a block that also contained the remains of Petrolacosaurus and was initially thought to contain elements of Haptodus. The evolutionary significance of the taxon was not realized until a publication in 2015.[2] The fossil of this organism was discovered in Garnett, Kansas.[2]
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Description
Ianthodon was first named by Kissel & Reisz in 2004;[1] elements on the holotype slab reidentified as Ianthodon provided more details in 2014.[2] This single juvenile skeleton with delicate bones has an estimated skull length of around 10 cm, which is similar to other taxa, such as Haptodus,[3] during the same development stage.[1][4] The specimen was easily distinguished from the skeletal element of Petrolacosaurus[5] by the position and the proportion of foramen and supinator process in the humeri.
Skull
It can be distinguished from Haptodus[3][6] by its narrower skull and dentition. The higher number of precanine maxillary teeth and the more rectangular shape of the humerus distinguish the holotype of H. garnettensis[5] from that of Ianthodon. The teeth of Ianthodon have wide bases but slender crowns, unusual among contemporary amniotes and indicating that Ianthodon occupied a different trophic niche from the bulbous-crowned Haptodus to which it was closely related.[6] Like other sphenacodonts, Ianthodon has a tall lacrimal bone, and so would have had a proportionally taller snout than more basal synapsids such as varanopids and eothyridids.[2][7]
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Classification
Ianthodon belongs to the clade Sphenacodontia within the clade Sphenacomorpha. Ianthodon has been considered the basalmost-known sphenacodont.[2] The cladogram below follows a cladistic analysis by Spindler and colleagues, 2014.[2]
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See also
References
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