Athena Review Image Archive ™
Captorhinus laticeps skeleton
Captorhinus laticeps (after Reisz et al. 2011)
Captirhinus laticeps, an early reptile and a member of the Captorhinidae family, dates from the Late Pennsylvanian and Early Permian periods (ca. 310-290 mya). Captorhinidae were named by Cope in 1882 from captor- "capturer" + -rhinus, “of the nose,” assuming the curved premaxilla of Captorhinus were used to catch prey.
Among several species, C. laticeps is distinguished from C. aguti by the lack of multiple tooth rows, but is very similar in all other aspects. Captorhinus laticeps is considerably smaller than C. magnus, and possesses chisel-shaped teeth instead of ogival teeth on the posterior portion of the maxilla and dentary.
This image shows the skeleton viewed from above (dorsal position) and from the side (lateral position). Its body length was about 30 cm (1 ft), with a broad, well-armored skull. Its arms included humerus, radius, ulna, and five digits, retaining the primitive tetrapod pattern.
Reference:
Reisz, Robert R.; Jin Liu, Jin-Ling Li, and Johannes Muller 2011
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