Athena Review Image Archive ™
Aelurognathus tigriceps skull
Skull of Aelurognathus tigriceps (Mus. fur Naturkunde, Berlin)
Aelurognathus
is an extinct genus of gorgonopsian (carnivorous) therapsid from
the Late Permian of South Africa. Its temporal range was the
Wuchiapingian phase, extending from 260.9–254 Mya.
The type species is Aelurognathus tigriceps, originally named Scymnognathus tigriceps by South African paleontologists Robert Broom and Sydney H. Haughton in 1913, and later assigned to the new genus Aelurognathus by Haughton in 1924.
A broken tooth beside the skeleton of a dicynodont from the Tropidostoma Assemblage Zone has been attributed to Aelurognathus, indicating that it scavenged. The bones of the back of the skeleton are the most scattered, suggesting that the Aelurognathus individuals fed on the rear of the carcass, removing the hind limbs to reach the soft underside. The small incisor teeth of Aelurognathus indicate that it was not able to crush bone but more likely stripped flesh from its prey like the modern-day wild dog Lycaon pictus.
Reference:
Fordyce,
N.; Smith, R.; Chinsamy, A. (2012). "Evidence of a therapsid scavenger
in the Late Permian Karoo Basin, South Africa". South African Journal of Science. 108 (11/12). doi:10.4102/sajs.v108i11/12.1158.
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