A new cynodont from Permian South Africa

[Logo7]

A new genus of cynodont has been described from remains originating from the Late Permian Daptocephalus Assemblage Zone of the Karoo Supergroup of South Africa. The new genus has been given the name Vetusodon elikhulu ("Large ancient tooth"), with the genus name originating from the Latin "vetus," meaning "ancient," and the Greek "odontos," meaning "tooth," in reference to its ancient age and its distinctive teeth, and the species name coming from "elikhulu," which means "large" in Zulu, in reference to its large size (1 meter long) compared to other Karoo cynodonts. The new genus is described from four skulls of varying degrees of preservation, enabling us to see a relatively complete skull of the new animal. In contrast to the very complex, cusp-shaped molars of most cynodont species, Vetusodon had more cone-shaped molars, meaning that the new animal's dentition was very primitive in comparison to its contemporaries. This suggests that cynodont evolution was not as linear as first thought, with this animal appearing just before the Great Dying having more similar teeth to earlier cynodonts than to those of contemporary cynodonts. Here is a reconstruction of this new genus by paleoartist Gabriel Lio, an image of some of the skulls used to describe this new genus, and a link to the paper describing this genus.




Paper (abstract only): https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz004/5485002?redirectedFrom=fulltext

[brontosauruschuck]

This is awesome. It's like a naked mole rat that is also a rattlesnake.

[Halichoeres]

Beautiful skulls, and beautiful art, too!