Procolophonidae

Procolophonidae Temporal range: Late Permian - Late Triassic
Life restoration of Procolophon pricei from the Early Triassic of South Africa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	†Parareptilia
Order:	†Procolophonomorpha
Superfamily:	†Procolophonoidea
Family:	†Procolophonidae Seeley, 1888
Subgroups
See text.
Synonyms
Sclerosauridae Nopsca, 1923[1][2]

Procolophonidae is an extinct family of parareptiles from the Permian and Triassic periods.

They were shaped like stocky lizards, with broad-cheeked skulls. Their cheeks sported a stout backward-pointing spike. Hypsognathus, from North America, had many cheek spikes. Procolophon, the genus after which the group was named, is unusual. Their skulls resemble the turtles', sharing a posttemporal fenestra. Accordingly, they have historically been classed alongside the turtles under the Anapsida.

Up to the early Triassic, their teeth were sharp, indicating an insectivorous diet. Later in the Triassic their teeth became broader, indicating a switch to a herbivorous diet. They became extinct at the end of the Triassic.

Recent findings indicate that these animals may have been found in Antarctica in the Early Triassic, thereby the earliest evidence of tetrapods in the Antarctic.^[3]

Hypsognathus. Model in life size

Phylogeny

Below is a cladogram from Ruta et al. (2011):^[4]

Procolophonidae

Coletta seca Pintosaurus magnidentis Sauropareion anoplus Kitchingnathus untabeni Phaanthosaurus ignatjevi Phaanthosaurus simus Theledectinae Eumetabolodon dongshengensis Theledectes perforatus Tichvinskia vjatkensis Leptopleuroninae Pentaedrusaurus ordosianus Neoprocolophon asiaticus Sclerosaurus armatus Scoloparia glyphanodon Leptopleuron lacertinum Soturnia caliodon Hypsognathus fenneri Procolophoninae Eumetabolodon bathycephalus Procolophon trigoniceps Teratophon spinigenis Thelerpeton oppressus Timanophon raridentatus Thelephon contritus Anomoiodon liliensterni Kapes amaenus Kapes bentoni Kapes komiensis Kapes majmesculae

References

1. Cisneros, J. C. (2008). "Phylogenetic relationships of procolophonid parareptiles with remarks on their geological record". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 6 (3): 345–366. doi:10.1017/S1477201907002350.
2. Hans-Dieter Sues and Robert R. Reisz (2008). "Anatomy and Phylogenetic Relationships of Sclerosaurus armatus (Amniota: Parareptilia) from the Buntsandstein (Triassic) of Europe". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 28 (4): 1031–1042. doi:10.1671/0272-4634-28.4.1031.
3. http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080608/sc_livescience/newfossilssuggestancientcatsizedreptilesinantarctica;_ylt=Avnu8qP7mQfjixKPsB5Eqol7hMgF
4. Ruta, M.; Cisneros, J. C.; Liebrecht, T.; Tsuji, L. A.; Müller, J. (2011). "Amniotes through major biological crises: Faunal turnover among Parareptiles and the end-Permian mass extinction". Palaeontology 54 (5): 1117–1137. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2011.01051.x.

Sources

• Lambert, David (2001). Dinosaur Encyclopedia. New York: Dorling Kindersley. p. 72.

External links

• Introduction to Procolophonoidea