Varanosaurus ('monitor lizard') is an extinct genus of early ophiacodontid synapsid that lived during the Artinskian[2] and Kungurian ages of the Permian.[3]

Varanosaurus
Temporal range: Early Permian, 290–273 Ma
A reconstruction of Varanosaurus acutirostris
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Family: Ophiacodontidae
Genus: Varanosaurus
Broili, 1904
Type species
Varanosaurus acutirostris
Broili, 1904
Species[1]
  • V. acutirostris Broili 1904 (type)
  • V. wichitaensis Romer 1937

Description

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Varanosaurus acutirostris being devoured by Dimetrodon limbatus

As its name implies, Varanosaurus may have looked superficially similar to present-day monitor lizards[citation needed], though not related at all.

Varanosaurus had a flattened, elongated skull and a pointed snout with a row of sharp teeth, including two pairs of conspicuous pseudocanines, implying that it was an active predator.[4]

Varanosaurus probably lived in swamps, competing with the larger Ophiacodon for food.[citation needed]

Classification

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Below is a cladogram modified from the analysis of Benson (2012):[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Varanosaurus". Fossilworks. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  2. ^ A. S. Romer. 1937. New genera and species of pelycosaurian reptiles. Proceedings of the New England Zoölogical Club 16:89-95
  3. ^ R. R. Reisz. 1986. Pelycosauria. Handbuch der Paläoherpetologie / Encyclopedia of Paleoherpetology 17A:1-102
  4. ^ Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 187. ISBN 978-1-84028-152-1.
  5. ^ Benson, R.J. (2012). "Interrelationships of basal synapsids: cranial and postcranial morphological partitions suggest different topologies". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 10 (4): 601–624. doi:10.1080/14772019.2011.631042. S2CID 84706899.

Further reading

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  • Benes, Josef. Prehistoric Animals and Plants. Pg. 90. Artia: Prague, 1979.