Dicynodon is a type of dicynodont

Dicynodont

Dicynodontia is a taxon of anomodont therapsids or mammal-like reptiles. Dicynodonts were small to large herbivorous animals with two tusks, hence their name, which means 'two dog tooth'...

 therapsid that flourished during the Permian

Permian

The PermianThe term "Permian" was introduced into geology in 1841 by Sir Sir R. I. Murchison, president of the Geological Society of London, who identified typical strata in extensive Russian explorations undertaken with Edouard de Verneuil; Murchison asserted in 1841 that he named his "Permian...

 period between 251 and 299 million years ago. Like all dicynodonts, it was herbivorous

Herbivore

Herbivores are organisms that are anatomically and physiologically adapted to eat plant-based foods. Herbivory is a form of consumption in which an organism principally eats autotrophs such as plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria. More generally, organisms that feed on autotrophs in...

. This animal 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.

Description

Dicynodon was a medium sized and advanced member of the Dicynodont group. It had an average length of 1.2 metres (3.9 ft), although size differed among species. Its fossil remains have been found in sediments of latest Permian age in South Africa, Tanzania, Russia, and China.

The type species

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

 is Dicynodon lacerticeps Owen, 1845. A large number of species have since been placed in this genus, some of which turned out to be synonyms of other species, others have been moved to different genera.

A large species Dicynodon trautscholdi, has been found at Sokolki

Sokólki

Sokółki may refer to the following places:*Sokółki, Greater Poland Voivodeship *Sokółki, Ełk County in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship *Sokółki, Olecko County in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship...

 on the Northern Dvina River near Kotlas

Kotlas

Kotlas is a town in the southeast of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, situated at the confluence of the Northern Dvina and Vychegda Rivers. Administratively, it is incorporated as a town of oblast significance . It also serves as the administrative center of Kotlassky District, by which it is...

 in Arkhangelsk Oblast

Arkhangelsk Oblast

Arkhangelsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It includes the Arctic archipelagos of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya, as well as the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea....

, Russia. It lived during the latest Permian, and was a contemporary of Inostrancevia

Inostrancevia

Inostrancevia is a genus of gorgonopsid therapsid found in Sokolki, on the Smaller Northern Dvina River near Kotlas in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. The animal lived 251 million years ago during the Late Permian. The species I...

, Scutosaurus

Scutosaurus

Scutosaurus was a genus of armor-covered pareiasaur that lived around 252-248 million years ago in Russia, in the later Permian period. Its genus name refers to large plates of armor scattered across its body...

and Dvinia

Dvinia

Dvinia was a therapsid mammal-like "reptile" of the family Dviniidae found in Sokolki on the Northern Dvina River near Kotlas in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia...

. Like all members of the genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

, this animal was toothless, except for prominent tusks, and probably cropped vegetation with a horny beak, like a tortoise.

The contemporary species Dicynodon amalitzkii Sushkin, 1926 is closely related (Angielczyk and Kurkin 2003a, 2003b), although according to Lucas

Spencer G. Lucas

Spencer George Lucas is an American paleontologist and stratigrapher, and curator of paleontology at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. His main areas of study are late Paleozoic, Mesozoic and early Cenozoic vertebrate fossils, stratigraphy, and continental deposits,...

 2005, Dicynodon trautscholdi, Dicynodon amalitzkii, Elph borealis, and Vivaxosaurus permirus are all synonyms, which makes D. amalitzkii the junior synonym of D. trautscholdi. Other suggested synonyms are Gordonia annae Amalitskii, 1922, Oudenodon venyokovi Amalitskii, 1922, and Dicynodon annae (Amalitskii, 1922).

Dicynodon may be the ancestor of the Triassic genus Kannemeyeria

Kannemeyeria

Kannemeyeria was a large dicynodont of the family Kannemeyeriidae, one of the first representatives of the family, and hence one of the first large herbivores of the Triassic...

, and hence of most of the Triassic dicynodonts.

Gallery

External links

• Dicynodon - Mikko's Phyogeny archive (list of species and cladogram)