Lycaenops

Lycaenops Temporal range: Middle - Late Permian 270.6–251 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
L. ornatus skeleton, Buffalo Museum of Science
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Synapsida
Order:	Therapsida
Family:	†Gorgonopsidae
Genus:	†Lycaenops Broom, 1925
Species
†Lycaenops ornatus Broom, 1925 (type) †Lycaenops angusticeps (Broom, 1913 (synonym Scymnognathus angusticeps)) †Lycaenops microdon (Boonstra, 1934 (synonym Aelurognathus microdon)) †Lycaenops sollasi (Broili and Schröder, 1935 (synonym Aelurognathus sollasi))
Synonyms
Aleurognathus microdon Boonstra, 1934 Lycaenoides Broom, 1925

Lycaenops ("Wolf-Face") is a genus of carnivorous therapsid (mammal-like reptile). It lived during the late mid-Permian to the early Late Permian, about 270.6-251 mya, in what is now South Africa.

Description

Reconstruction of L. ornatus

Lycaenops measured about 1 m (3 ft) and weighed up to 15 kg (33 lb).^[1] Like the modern-day wolves from which it takes its name, Lycaenops had a long and slender skull, with a set of dog-like fangs set into both its upper and lower jaws.^[2] These pointed canine teeth were ideal for the use of stabbing and/or tearing at the flesh of any large prey that it came upon. Lycaenops most likely hunted small vertebrates such as reptiles and dicynodonts.

Lycaenops walked and ran with its long legs held close to its body. This is a feature found in mammals, but not in more primitive amniotes, early reptiles, and synapsids such as pelycosaurs, whose legs are positioned to the sides of their bodies. The ability to move like a mammal would have given Lycaenops an advantage over other land vertebrates, since it would have been able to outrun them.

Species

A Lycaenops skeleton in the Milan Natural History Museum

The type species Lycaenops ornatus was named by South African paleontologist Robert Broom in 1925. Several other species have also been referred to the genus, including L. angusticeps, which was originally named Scymnognathus angusticeps, L. kingwilli, which was originally named Tigricephalus kingwilli and is now placed in the genus Aelurognathus, and L. tenuirostris, which was originally named Tangagorgon tenuirostris and is now in the genus Cyonosaurus. Two additional species, L. microdon and L. sollasi, were added to Lycaenops after having been classified as species of Aelurognathus. The species L. minor is now considered a synonym of L. sollasi.^[3]

Classification

Skull of L. cf. angusticeps at the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago

Below is a cladogram from the phylogenetic analysis of Gebauer (2007):^[3]

Gorgonopsia	Aloposaurus Cyonosaurus Aelurosaurus Gorgonopsidae Scylacognathus Eoarctops Gorgonops Njalila Lycaenops Arctognathus Inostrancevia Rubidgeinae Aelurognathus Rubidgea Sycosaurus Clelandina

See also

• Evolution of mammals
• List of synapsids
• Gorgonops

References

1. Gorgonopsia
2. Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 189. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
3. Gebauer, E.V.I. (2007). Phylogeny and evolution of the Gorgonopsia with a special reference to the skull and skeleton of GPIT/RE/7113 ('Aelurognathus?' parringtoni) (PDF) (Ph.D. thesis). Tübingen: Eberhard-Karls Universität Tübingen. pp. 1–316.

• The Paleobiology Database
• Broom 1925 : On some carnivorous therapsids. Records of the Albany Museum, vol. 3, n. 4, p. 309–326.
• Edwin Р. Colbert «The mammal-like reptile Lycaenops» Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History