Titanophoneus potens  Therapsida: Dinocephalia: Anteosauridae Locality: Isheevo, Tatarstan, eastern European Russia Age: Late Permian, 253 million years ago Meaning of name: "Giant murderer" In the middle Late Permian Titanophoneus played the role of a superpredator in terrestrial tetrapod assemblages, like Eotitanosuchus in the early Late Permian. This is the skeleton of a top carnivore, a sabre-toothed dinocephalian. The displayed specimen was found in articulation and represents a young animal- an adult skull would have reached up to 80 cm in length. The elongated, heavy snout, the long tail and the relatively short limbs are all primitive features of this carnivorous therapsid. When on its feet, the stance of Titanophoneus was primitive, because rather than the limbs being drawn in under the body the stance was more sprawling. Titanophoneus was more advanced than earlier carnivorous therapsids in that its temporal opening behind the eye socket was relatively larger, and thus there was a greater muscle mass available for closing the lower jaw. Late Permian Titanophoneus played the role of super-predator in terrestrial tetrapod assemblages, like Eotitanosuchus in the early Late Permian. |
