Turfanodon

Turfanodon is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsid from the Late Permian Sunan, Guodikeng, and Naobaogou Formations of China. The holotype of T. bogdaensis was discovered between 1963-1964 and was originally named in 1973 by A. Sun with the type species Turfanodon bogdaensis,^[1] Turfanodon was reclassified as a junior synonym of the related Dicynodon in 1988 by G. M. King.^[2] T. bogdaensis remained a species of Dicynodon for over two decades before the genus was reinstated in 2011 in a revision of the taxonomy of Dicynodon by palaeontologist Christian Kammerer. A second species from Inner Mongolia, T. jiufengensis, was named in 2021 by palaeontologist Jun Liu from a nearly complete skeleton and other referred bones. Turfanodon was a relatively large dicynodont, and similar in appearance to the related Daptocephalus from South Africa.^[3][4]

Turfanodon Temporal range: Late Permian ~254–252.3 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Holotype specimen of T. jiufengensis (IVPP V 26038)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Synapsida
Clade:	Therapsida
Suborder:	†Anomodontia
Clade:	†Dicynodontia
Clade:	†Bidentalia
Infraorder:	†Dicynodontoidea
Genus:	†Turfanodon Sun, 1973
Type species
†Turfanodon bogdaensis Sun, 1973
Other species
†T. jiufengensis Liu, 2021
Synonyms
T. bogdaensis: Dicynodon bogdaensis King, 1988 Dicynodon sunanensis Li, Cheng, and Li, 2000 Striodon magnus Sun, 1978

Life restoration