Syops

Not to be confused with Psyops.

Syops is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsid.^[1] The type species S. vanhoepeni was first named in 1938 as Dicynodon vanhoepeni. Fossils of the genus have been found in the Cistecephalus Assemblage Zone in the Usili Formation of the Ruhuhu Basin, Tanzania and the Upper Madumabisa Mudstone Formation of the Luangwa Basin, Zambia.^[2] Its phylogenetic placement is somewhat uncertain, with multiple different studies finding it as either a basal geikiid,^[3] rhachiocephalid^[4] a dicynodontoid more derived than the most basal genera but less derived than Lystrosauridae,^[5][6] or a lystrosaurid.^[1][7]

Syops Temporal range: Late Permian ~259–254 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Synapsida
Clade:	Therapsida
Suborder:	†Anomodontia
Clade:	†Dicynodontia
Clade:	†Bidentalia
Genus:	†Syops Kammerer et al. 2011
Type species
†S. vanhoepeni (Boonstra 1938)

References

• Paleontology portal

1. Kammerer, C.F.; Angielczyk, K.D.; Fröbisch, J. (2011). "A comprehensive taxonomic revision of Dicynodon (Therapsida, Anomodontia) and its implications for dicynodont phylogeny, biogeography, and biostratigraphy". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 31 (Suppl. 1): 1–158. Bibcode:2011JVPal..31S...1K. doi:10.1080/02724634.2011.627074. S2CID 84987497.
2. Syops at Fossilworks.org
3. Kammerer, C. F.; Fröbisch, J. R.; Angielczyk, K. D. (2013). Farke, Andrew A (ed.). "On the Validity and Phylogenetic Position of Eubrachiosaurus browni, a Kannemeyeriiform Dicynodont (Anomodontia) from Triassic North America". PLOS ONE. 8 (5): e64203. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...864203K. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0064203. PMC 3669350. PMID 23741307.
4. Kammerer, C.F.; Smith, R.M.H. (2017). "An early geikiid dicynodont from the Tropidostoma Assemblage Zone (late Permian) of South Africa". PeerJ. 5: e2913. doi:10.7717/peerj.2913. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 5289114. PMID 28168104.
5. Angielczyk, K.D.; Kammerer, C.F. (2017). "The cranial morphology, phylogenetic position and biogeography of the upper Permian dicynodont Compsodon helmoedi van Hoepen (Therapsida, Anomodontia)". Papers in Palaeontology. 3 (4): 513–545. doi:10.1002/spp2.1087. S2CID 134092461.
6. Liu, Jun (2020). "Taoheodon baizhijuni, gen. et sp. nov. (Anomodontia, Dicynodontoidea), from the upper Permian Sunjiagou Formation of China and its implications". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 40: e1762088. Bibcode:2020JVPal..40E2088L. doi:10.1080/02724634.2020.1762088. S2CID 221749476.
7. Angielczyk, K. D.; Liu, J.; Yang, W. (2021). "A Redescription of Kunpania scopulusa, a Bidentalian Dicynodont (Therapsida, Anomodontia) from the ?Guadalupian of Northwestern China". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 41: e1922428. Bibcode:2021JVPal..41E2428A. doi:10.1080/02724634.2021.1922428. S2CID 236406006.