Dicynodon trautscholdi Therapsida: Anomodontia: Dicynodontidae Locality: Sokolki, Malaya Severnaya Dvina River, Arkhangelsk Region, northern European Russia Age: Late Permian, 250 million years ago Meaning of name: "Double dog tooth" Size: medium-sized domestic dog There were numerous anomodont therapsids of the genus Dicynodon in land environments. These bulky and clumsy animals made their way through thickset coastal vegetation, feeding on soft and juicy underground parts of large horstails. Dicynodon possessed nothing but a pair of exaggerated fangs in the upper jaw and the lost teeth were replaced by horn plates. The fangs became heavily worn when digging. The above skull is of this herbivorous dicynodont. With the exception of its prominent tusks, this animal was toothless. Much like a turtle, it cropped vegetation with a horny beak. Dicynodonts were one of the more successful of the later therapsids, persisting until the very end of the Triassic. |
