Phthinosuchia Temporal range:
Middle Permian,
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Life restoration of Phthinosuchus discors | |
Scientific classification
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Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Synapsida |
Clade: | Therapsida |
Suborder: | † Dinocephalia (?) |
Clade: | † Anteosauria (?) |
Infraorder: | †
Phthinosuchia Romer, 1961 |
Subgroups | |
See text. |
Phthinosuchia is an extinct group of therapsids including two poorly known species, Phthinosuchus discors and Phthinosaurus borrisiaki, from the Middle Permian of Russia. Phthinthosuchus is known a partial crushed skull and Phthinosaurus is known from an isolated lower jaw. [1] The two species have traditionally been grouped together based on their shared primitive characteristics, but more recent studies have proposed that they are more distantly related. Phthinosuchus is either a carnivorous gorgonopsian relative [2] or an anteosaurian dinocephalian while Phthinosaurus is either a herbivorous rhopalodont dinocephalian [2] [3] or a therocephalian. [4]
Phthinosuchia was named by American paleontologist Everett C. Olson in 1961, who considered it the most primitive infraorder within Therapsida. A year later Olson named the new infraorder Eotheriodontia and reclassified Phthinosuchia as a subgroup of eotheriodonts, along with the families Biarmosuchidae and Brithopodidae. Each species has been placed in its own family; Phthinosuchidae was named by Soviet paleontologist Ivan Yefremov in 1954 for both Phthinthosuchus and Phthinosaurus, while Phthinosauridae was named by Leonid Tatarinov in 1974 for Phthinosaurus alone. [5]
Phthinosuchia Temporal range:
Middle Permian,
| |
---|---|
![]() | |
Life restoration of Phthinosuchus discors | |
Scientific classification
![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Synapsida |
Clade: | Therapsida |
Suborder: | † Dinocephalia (?) |
Clade: | † Anteosauria (?) |
Infraorder: | †
Phthinosuchia Romer, 1961 |
Subgroups | |
See text. |
Phthinosuchia is an extinct group of therapsids including two poorly known species, Phthinosuchus discors and Phthinosaurus borrisiaki, from the Middle Permian of Russia. Phthinthosuchus is known a partial crushed skull and Phthinosaurus is known from an isolated lower jaw. [1] The two species have traditionally been grouped together based on their shared primitive characteristics, but more recent studies have proposed that they are more distantly related. Phthinosuchus is either a carnivorous gorgonopsian relative [2] or an anteosaurian dinocephalian while Phthinosaurus is either a herbivorous rhopalodont dinocephalian [2] [3] or a therocephalian. [4]
Phthinosuchia was named by American paleontologist Everett C. Olson in 1961, who considered it the most primitive infraorder within Therapsida. A year later Olson named the new infraorder Eotheriodontia and reclassified Phthinosuchia as a subgroup of eotheriodonts, along with the families Biarmosuchidae and Brithopodidae. Each species has been placed in its own family; Phthinosuchidae was named by Soviet paleontologist Ivan Yefremov in 1954 for both Phthinthosuchus and Phthinosaurus, while Phthinosauridae was named by Leonid Tatarinov in 1974 for Phthinosaurus alone. [5]