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Kannemeyeria

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Kannemeyeria
Temporal range: Anisian
~247–242 Ma
↓
Skull of Kannemeyeria simocephalus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Clade: Therapsida
Suborder: †Anomodontia
Clade: †Dicynodontia
Family: †Kannemeyeriidae
Genus: †Kannemeyeria
Seeley, 1908
Type species
†Kannemeyeria proboscoides
Seeley, 1908
(Junior synonym of K. simocephalus)
Species
  • K. aganosteus Kammerer & Ordoñez, 2021
  • K. lophorhinus Renaut et al., 2003
  • K. simocephalus (Weithofer, 1888)
Synonyms
Genus synonymy
Species synonymy
  • Synonyms of K. simocephalus:
    • Dicynodon latifrons Broom, 1889
    • Kannemeyeria erithrea Haughton, 1915
    • K. proboscoides Seeley, 1909
    • K. wilsoni Cruickshank, 1970
    • Proplacerias vanhoepeni (Camp, 1956)
    • ?Ptychocynodon pentangulatus Seeley, 1904 [nomen nudum?]
    • Sagecephalus pachyrhynchus Jaekel, 1911

Kannemeyeria is a genus of dicynodont that lived during the Anisian age of Middle Triassic period in what is now Africa and South America.[1] The generic name is given in honor of Daniel Rossouw Kannemeyer, the South African fossil collector who discovered the original specimen.[2] It is one of the first representatives of the family, and hence one of the first large herbivores of the Triassic.

Description

[edit]
Restoration of Kannemeyeria

Kannemeyeria was about 3 metres (9.8 ft) in length, about the size of an ox. Although it had a large head, it was lightweight due to the size of the eye sockets and nasal cavity. It also had limb girdles which formed massive plates of bone that helped support its heavily built body.[3]

Kannemeyeria was well-adapted to living as a herbivore; it had a powerful beak and strong jaw muscles built for shearing plant material.[3] Kannemeyeria had a massive head with unusually large openings for the eyes, nostrils and jaw muscles. It evidently tore up roots, stripped leaves from the vegetation with its horny beak and ground them up with its toothless jaws.[4]

In a zone of Karoo Supergroup, Kannemeyeria is found alongside large carnivorous archosaur Erythrosuchus.[5]

Distribution

[edit]
Kannemeyeria skull

Kannemeyeria is known from the Subzone B of Burgersdorp Formation of South Africa, the Ntawere Formation of Zambia, the Omingonde Formation of Namibia, the Lifua member of Manda Formation of Tanzania, and the Quebrada de los Fósiles Formation of Argentina.[6][7]

Classification

[edit]
Life reconstruction of K. simocephalus

Below is a cladogram from Kammerer et al. (2013):[8]

Kannemeyeriiformes

See also

[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kannemeyeria.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Kannemeyeria". Fossilworks. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  2. ^ "Kannemeyeria". Paleofile. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 191. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
  4. ^ Cloudsley-Thompson, John L. (2005). Ecology and Behaviour of Mesozoic Reptiles (2005 ed.). Springer. pp. 113–114. ISBN 978-3540224211. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  5. ^ Hancox, P.J.; Neveling, J.; Rubidge, B.S. (2020-06-01). "Biostratigraphy of the Cynognathus Assemblage Zone (Beaufort Group, Karoo Supergroup), South Africa". South African Journal of Geology. 123 (2): 217–238. Bibcode:2020SAJG..123..217H. doi:10.25131/sajg.123.0016. ISSN 1012-0750. S2CID 225828531.
  6. ^ Chinsamy-Turan, Anusuya (2011). Forerunners of Mammals: Radiation • Histology • Biology. Indiana University Press. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-253-00533-5. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  7. ^ Kammerer, C. F.; Ordoñez, M. D. (2021). "Dicynodonts (Therapsida: Anomodontia) of South America". Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 108: 103171. Bibcode:2021JSAES.10803171K. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2021.103171. S2CID 233565963.
  8. ^ Kammerer, C. F.; Fröbisch, J. R.; Angielczyk, K. D. (2013). Farke, Andrew A (ed.). "On the Validity and Phylogenetic Position of Eubrachiosaurus browni, a Kannemeyeriiform Dicynodont (Anomodontia) from Triassic North America". PLOS ONE. 8 (5): e64203. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...864203K. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0064203. PMC 3669350. PMID 23741307.
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