Smilesaurus
Temporal range: Late Permian
Holotype skull
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Clade: Therapsida
Clade: †Gorgonopsia
Family: †Gorgonopsidae
Genus: †Smilesaurus
Broom, 1948
Type species
†Smilesaurus ferox
Broom, 1948
Synonyms

Genus level

  • Pardocephalus Broom, 1948

Species level

  • Pardocephalus wallacei Broom, 1948
  • Smilesaurus maccabei Broom, 1948
  • Aelurognathus ferox Gebauer, 2007

Smilesaurus is an extinct genus of gorgonopsian known from Africa. It lived during the Late Permian. It contains the single species S. ferox.[1]

Description

Skull of Smilesaurus ferox

Smilesaurus was a large gorgonopsian, with a skull length of up to 31 centimeters. It is characterized by extremely long canine teeth, and has the proportionally longest canines of any gorgonopsian.[2][1] Unlike other gorgonopsians, which probably hunted similarly to predatory reptiles, Smilesaurus probably was a true saber-toothed predator which hunted using similar tactics to saber-toothed cats.[1] It can be distinguished by other rubidgeines by its lack of cranial pachyostosis and rugosoties, and by its relatively small orbits.[1]

Classification

The classification of Smilesaurus has been disputed. It has often been included in Rubidgeinae, but it differs from other members of the clade considerably.[1] Instead, it may be more closely related to Arctops,[3] a position supported by a phylogenetic analysis in 2018.[4]

Restoration

Below is a cladogram of Gorgonopsia from Bendel et al. 2018:[5]

Nochnitsa

Viatkogorgon

Suchogorgon

Sauroctonus

Pravoslavlevia

Inostrancevia

Eriphostoma

Gorgonops

Cynariops

Lycaenops

Smilesaurus

Arctops

Arctognathus

Rubidgeinae

Aelurognathus

Ruhuhucerberus

Sycosaurus

Rubidgeini

Leontosaurus

Dinogorgon

Clelandina

Rubidgea

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Kammerer, Christian F. (2016). "Systematics of the Rubidgeinae (Therapsida: Gorgonopsia)". PeerJ. 4: e1608. doi:10.7717/peerj.1608. PMC 4730894. PMID 26823998.
  2. ↑ Broom, Robert (1947). "A contribution to our knowledge of the vertebrates of the Karroo Beds of South Africa". Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 61 (2): 577–629. doi:10.1017/S0080456800004865.
  3. ↑ Sigogneau-Russell, Denise (1989). Wellnhofer, Peter (ed.). Theriodontia I: Phthinosuchia, Biarmosuchia, Eotitanosuchia, Gorgonopsia. Encyclopedia of Paleoherpetology. Vol. 17 B/I. Stuttgart: Gustav Fischer Verlag. ISBN 3437304879.
  4. ↑ Kammerer, Christian F.; Masyutin, Vladimir (2016). "Gorgonopsian therapsids (Nochnitsa gen. nov. and Viatkogorgon) from the Permian Kotelnich locality of Russia". PeerJ. 6: e4954. doi:10.7717/peerj.4954. PMC 5995105. PMID 29900078.
  5. ↑ Bendel, Eva-Maria; Kammerer, Christian F.; Kardjilov, Nikolay; Fernandez, Vincent; Fröbisch, Jörg (2018-11-28). "Cranial anatomy of the gorgonopsian Cynariops robustus based on CT-reconstruction". PLOS ONE. 13 (11): –0207367. Bibcode:2018PLoSO..1307367B. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0207367. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 6261584. PMID 30485338.


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