Smilesaurus

Not to be confused with Silesaurus.

Smilesaurus is an extinct genus of gorgonopsian known from South Africa. It lived during the Late Permian. It contains the single species S. ferox.^[1]

Smilesaurus Temporal range: Late Permian 259–254 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Holotype skull
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Synapsida
Clade:	Therapsida
Clade:	†Gorgonopsia
Family:	†Gorgonopsidae
Genus:	†Smilesaurus Broom, 1948
Type species
†Smilesaurus ferox Broom, 1948
Synonyms
Genus level Pardocephalus Broom, 1948 Species level Pardocephalus wallacei Broom, 1948 Smilesaurus maccabei Broom, 1948 Aelurognathus ferox Gebauer, 2007

Description

Skull of Smilesaurus ferox

Smilesaurus was a large gorgonopsian, with a skull length of up to 31 centimeters. It is characterized by extremely long canine teeth, and has the proportionally longest canines of any gorgonopsian.^[2][1] Unlike other gorgonopsians, which probably hunted similarly to predatory reptiles, Smilesaurus probably was a true saber-toothed predator which hunted using similar tactics to saber-toothed cats.^[1] It can be distinguished by other rubidgeines by its lack of cranial pachyostosis and rugosoties, and by its relatively small orbits.^[1]

Classification

The classification of Smilesaurus has been disputed. It has often been included in Rubidgeinae, but it differs from other members of the clade considerably.^[1] Instead, it may be more closely related to Arctops,^[3] a position supported by a phylogenetic analysis in 2018.^[4]

Restoration

Below is a cladogram of Gorgonopsia from Bendel et al., 2018:^[5]

	Nochnitsa Viatkogorgon Suchogorgon Sauroctonus Pravoslavlevia Inostrancevia Eriphostoma Gorgonops Cynariops Lycaenops Smilesaurus Arctops Arctognathus Rubidgeinae Aelurognathus Ruhuhucerberus Sycosaurus Rubidgeini Leontosaurus Dinogorgon Clelandina Rubidgea

See also

• Paleontology portal

• List of therapsids