Biology:Cistecephalidae
| Cistecephalidae Temporal range: Late Permian
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| Reconstruction of Cistecephalus microrhinus | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Synapsida |
| Clade: | Therapsida |
| Suborder: | †Anomodontia |
| Clade: | †Dicynodontia |
| Clade: | †Kistecephalia |
| Family: | †Cistecephalidae Broom, 1913 |
| Genera | |
Cistecephalidae is an extinct family of dicynodont therapsids from the Late Permian of South Africa , India and Zambia. It includes the genera Cistecephalus, Cistecephaloides, and Kawingasaurus.[1] Cistecephalids are thought to have had a fossorial or burrowing lifestyle, with adaptations such as broad skulls, strong forelimbs, and squat bodies. A similar group of dicynodonts called the pylaecephalids were also fossorial, although to a lesser extent than cistecephalids.[2] Cistecephalids showed a high level of endemism, with each of the five known species unique to a single region.[3]
Description
Cistecephalids were small dicynodonts. Most species, with the exception of Kembawacela, lacked tusks, but sexually dimorphic supraorbital ridges were present.[3][4] Cistecephalids had boxy, broad skulls with relatively laterally directed temporal openings, a result of a considerably broadened intertemporal region. Sauroscaptor, the most basal genus of the family, had a less extreme broadening of the intratemporal region than in other members of the family.[3] In the derived genera Cistecephaloides and Kawingasaurus, the intratemporal portion of the skull was broader than the skull was long. Cistecephalids also had a relatively posteriorly positioned pineal foramen, which in Kembawacela and Sauroscaptor was displaced all the way to the posterior margin of the skull. They also had anteriorly directed orbits; they may have had binocular vision, which may have been an adaptation for nocturnality or an insectivorous lifestyle.[4]
Classification
The Cistecephalidae contains five named genera each with one species. It is a member of the Dicynodont clade Emydopoidea. Phylogeny following Kammerer et al. 2016:[1][3]
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References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kammerer, C.F.; Angielczyk, K.D. (2009). "A proposed higher taxonomy of anomodont therapsids". Zootaxa 2018: 1–24. http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2009/f/z02018p024f.pdf.
- ↑ Ray, S.; Chinsamy, A. (2003). "Functional aspects of the postcranial anatomy of the Permian dicynodont Diictodon and their ecological implications". Palaeontology 46 (1): 151–183. doi:10.1111/1475-4983.00292. Bibcode: 2003Palgy..46..151R.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Kammerer, C. F.; Bandyopadhyay, Saswati; Ray, Sanghamitra (2016). "A new taxon of cisticephalid dicynodont from the upper Permian Kundaram Formation of India". Papers in Palaeontology 2 (4): 569–584. doi:10.1002/spp2.1055. Bibcode: 2016PPal....2..569K.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Nasterlack, Tobias; Canoville, Aurore; Chinsamy, Anusuya (2012). "New insights into the biology of the Permian genus Cistecephalus (Therapsida, Dicynodontia)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 32 (6): 1396–1410. doi:10.1080/02724634.2012.697410. Bibcode: 2012JVPal..32.1396N.
Wikidata ☰ Q5122286 entry
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