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	Shansiodon wangi skull     Skull of Shansiodon wangi, shown in  A) Ventral and B) Posterior views  (after Yeh 1959 fig.2 )
	Shansiodon  was a Early to Middle Triassic dicynodont found in Shanxi province in northern China. Dicynodonts, representing therapsids or mammal-like reptiles, are the most numerous taxa in these late Early Triassic levels, consisting of the three genera Kannemeyeria, Parakannemeyeria, and Shansiodon. The former two are large individuals, while Shansiodon, represented by three different species, is relatively small.  One of the Shansiodon species, S. wuhsiangensis, shows the large twin tusks characteristic of the genus. Another, S. wagni (Yuh 1959), illustrated here, showed good preservation of the stapes, a hearing ossicle attached to the quadrate bone in the occipital region at the lower rear of the skull, which is an indicator of mammaliform developments.                    References: Yeh 1959. Dicynodonts Vertebrata Paleoasiatica III
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