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Extinct genus of therapsids from the middle Permian of South Africa From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lycosuchus ("wolf crocodile") is an extinct genus of carnivorous therocephalians which lived in the Middle Permian 265—260 Ma existing for approximately 5 million years. As a member of the Lycosuchidae, the genus represents one of the earliest diverging therocephalians. The type and only species, L. vanderrieti, is known from a handful of well-preserved specimens featuring the cranium and lower jaw; the holotype US D173 housed at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, is a near complete occluded skull.[1] Specimen MB.R. 995, housed at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Germany, consists of a near complete and isolated lower jaw, along with a partial snout and brain case.[2] With the help of μCT data, Pusch et al (2020) [2] described the endocranial anatomy of Lycosuchus vanderrieti.
| Lycosuchus Temporal range: Middle Permian, | |
|---|---|
| |
| Lycosuchus vanderrieti skull (MB.R.995) at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Synapsida |
| Clade: | Therapsida |
| Clade: | †Therocephalia |
| Family: | †Lycosuchidae |
| Genus: | †Lycosuchus Broom, 1903 |
| Species: | †L. vanderrieti |
| Binomial name | |
| †Lycosuchus vanderrieti Broom, 1903 | |
It was a medium-sized predator, reaching 1.2 m (3.8 ft) in length with a skull 23 cm long.,[3] typical of early therocephalians. L. vanderrieti bore two functional canines in each maxilla, possibly due to a protracted tooth replacement.[2] Both the upper canines and the single canine of the lower jaw are serrated.
Discovered in South Africa, it was named by paleontologist Robert Broom[4] in 1903 and later assigned by him to Therocephalia.
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