Procolophonidae

Procolophonidae is an extinct family of parareptiles from the Permian and Triassic periods.

Procolophonidae Temporal range: Late Permian - Late Triassic
Life restoration of Procolophon pricei from the Early Triassic of South Africa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	†Parareptilia
Order:	†Procolophonomorpha
Superfamily:	†Procolophonoidea
Family:	†Procolophonidae Seeley, 1888
Subgroups
See text.
Synonyms
Sclerosauridae Nopcsa, 1923[1][2]

They were shaped like stocky lizards, with broad-cheeked skulls. Their cheeks sported a stout backward-pointing spike. Hypsognathus, from North America, had many cheek spikes. Procolophon, the genus after which the group was named, is unusual. Their skulls resemble the turtles', sharing a posttemporal fenestra. Accordingly, they have historically been classed alongside the turtles under the Anapsida.

Up to the early Triassic, their teeth were sharp, indicating an insectivorous diet. Later in the Triassic their teeth became broader, indicating a switch to a herbivorous diet. They became extinct at the end of the Triassic.

Discoveries announced in 2008 suggest that these animals may have lived in Antarctica in the Early Triassic, and were thus among the earliest tetrapods in the Antarctic.[3]

Hypsognathus. Model in life size

Phylogeny

Below is a cladogram from Ruta et al. (2011):[4]

Procolophonidae

Coletta seca     Pintosaurus magnidentis     Sauropareion anoplus     Kitchingnathus untabeni       Phaanthosaurus ignatjevi     Phaanthosaurus simus       Theledectinae   Eumetabolodon dongshengensis     Theledectes perforatus         Tichvinskia vjatkensis     Leptopleuroninae   Pentaedrusaurus ordosianus       Neoprocolophon asiaticus         Sclerosaurus armatus     Scoloparia glyphanodon         Leptopleuron lacertinum       Soturnia caliodon     Hypsognathus fenneri             Procolophoninae     Eumetabolodon bathycephalus       Procolophon trigoniceps     Teratophon spinigenis     Thelerpeton oppressus           Timanophon raridentatus       Thelephon contritus       Anomoiodon liliensterni       Kapes amaenus     Kapes bentoni     Kapes komiensis     Kapes majmesculae

References

1. Cisneros, J. C. (2008). "Phylogenetic relationships of procolophonid parareptiles with remarks on their geological record". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 6 (3): 345–366. doi:10.1017/S1477201907002350. S2CID 84468714.
2. Hans-Dieter Sues and Robert R. Reisz (2008). "Anatomy and Phylogenetic Relationships of Sclerosaurus armatus (Amniota: Parareptilia) from the Buntsandstein (Triassic) of Europe". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 28 (4): 1031–1042. doi:10.1671/0272-4634-28.4.1031. S2CID 53967912.
3. https://www.livescience.com/2580-fossils-suggest-ancient-cat-sized-reptiles-antarctica.html
4. Ruta, M.; Cisneros, J. C.; Liebrecht, T.; Tsuji, L. A.; Müller, J. (2011). "Amniotes through major biological crises: Faunal turnover among Parareptiles and the end-Permian mass extinction". Palaeontology. 54 (5): 1117–1137. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2011.01051.x.

Sources

• Lambert, David (2001). Dinosaur Encyclopedia. New York: Dorling Kindersley. p. 72.

External links

• Introduction to Procolophonoidea