Pristerodon
| Pristerodon Temporal range: Late Permian | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Skull at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Synapsida |
| Order: | Therapsida |
| Infraorder: | †Dicynodontia |
| Family: | †Eumantellidae |
| Genus: | †Pristerodon Huxley, 1868 |
| Type species | |
| †Pristerodon mackayi Huxley, 1868 | |
| Synonyms | |
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Pristerodon is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsid.
Restoration of Pristerodon mackayi
Size of Pristerodon mackayi relative to a human.
Paleobiology
Brain and Senses
Pristerodon were among the earliest land animals able to hear airborne sound as opposed to hearing via ground vibrations. A South African specimen studied with neutron tomography[1] has shown evidence of an eardrum on its lower jaw with the implication that it was hearing impaired during the act of chewing. The specimen had a 3mm cavity for cochlea which transformed sound frequency ranges into nerve impulses sent on to the brain.
Ecology
Pristerodon were herbivores living on flood plains.
See also
References
- ↑ Laaß, Michael (26 June 2015). "The origins of the cochlea and impedance matching hearing in synapsids" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 60. doi:10.4202/app.00140.2014. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
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