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Anteosaurus (meaning "Antaeus lizard") is an extinct genus of large carnivorous dinocephalian synapsid. It lived at the end of the Guadalupian (= Middle Permian) during the Capitanian age, about 265 to 260 million years ago in what is now South Africa. It is mainly known by cranial remains and few postcranial bones.
There is a tendency especially in more advanced forms such as Anteosaurus towards thickening of the bones of the top of the skull, indicating head-butting behavior. There is a large canal for the pineal organ (third eye); probably tied in with the animal's diurnal and seasonal cycles.
Anteosauridae is an extinct family of large carnivorous dinocephalian therapsids that are known from the Middle Permian of Asia, Africa, and South America.These animals were by far the largest predators of the Permian period, with skulls reaching 80 cm in length in adult individuals, far larger than the biggest gorgonopsian.
Anteosaurus overviewing the landscape. The largest carnivorous non-mammalian synapsids was the dinocephalian Anteosaurus, which was 5–6 m (16–20 ft) long, and weighed 500–600 kg (1,100–1,300 lb). [16] [17] Fully grown Titanophoneus from the same family Anteosauridae likely had a skull of 1 m (3.3 ft) long. [17]
Nevertheless, these animals are too specialized and too late to have been the ancestors of the herbivorous tapinocephalids, so these characteristics evolved independently. Boonstra notes that the hip joint and the femur of Anteosaurus are comparable with those of the crocodile and that these animals may have had a crawling habit. Because of the ...
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Heralded as the world's largest rodents, the South American rainforest natives can actually weigh as much as a full grown man.. But despite the fact that they apparently like to eat their own dung ...
Reconstruction of the skull of Pampaphoneus biccai by Juan Carlos Cisneros.. The holotype (UFRGS PV386P) of Pampaphoneus is a skull measuring approximately 32 cm in length.. As with all anteosaurs, the ventral margin of the premaxilla is inclined upwards and the postorbital bar is strongly curved anteroventrally so that the temporal fenestra undercuts orb