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Cisneros JC, Abdala F, Jashashvili T, et al. Tiarajudens eccentricus and Anomocephalus africanus, two bizarre anomodonts (Synapsida, Therapsida) with dental occlusion from the Permian of Gondwana. R Soc Open Sci. 2015;2(7):150090doi: 10.1098/rsos.150090.
Cisneros, J. C., Abdala, F., Jashashvili, T., de Oliveira Bueno, A., & Dentzien-Dias, P. (2015). Tiarajudens eccentricus and Anomocephalus africanus, two bizarre anomodonts (Synapsida, Therapsida) with dental occlusion from the Permian of Gondwana. Royal Society open science, 2(7), 150090. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.150090
Cisneros, Juan Carlos, et al. "Tiarajudens eccentricus and Anomocephalus africanus, two bizarre anomodonts (Synapsida, Therapsida) with dental occlusion from the Permian of Gondwana." Royal Society open science vol. 2,7 (2015): 150090. doi: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.150090
Cisneros JC, Abdala F, Jashashvili T, de Oliveira Bueno A, Dentzien-Dias P. Tiarajudens eccentricus and Anomocephalus africanus, two bizarre anomodonts (Synapsida, Therapsida) with dental occlusion from the Permian of Gondwana. R Soc Open Sci. 2015 Jul 15;2(7):150090. doi: 10.1098/rsos.150090. eCollection 2015 Jul. PMID: 26587266; PMCID: PMC4632579.
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R Soc Open Sci. 2015 Jul 15;2(7):150090. doi: 10.1098/rsos.150090. eCollection 2015 Jul.

Tiarajudens eccentricus and Anomocephalus africanus, two bizarre anomodonts (Synapsida, Therapsida) with dental occlusion from the Permian of Gondwana.

Royal Society open science

Juan Carlos Cisneros, Fernando Abdala, Tea Jashashvili, Ana de Oliveira Bueno, Paula Dentzien-Dias

Affiliations

  1. Centro de Ciências da Natureza , Universidade Federal do Piauí , Teresina, Brazil.
  2. Evolutionary Studies Institute , University of the Witwatersrand , Johannesburg, South Africa.
  3. Departamento de Paleontologia e Estratigrafia , Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul , Porto Alegre, Brazil.
  4. Laboratório de Paleontologia e Paleoceanografia , Universidade Federal do Rio Grande , Rio Grande, Brazil.

PMID: 26587266 PMCID: PMC4632579 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.150090

Abstract

Anomodontia was a highly successful tetrapod clade during the Permian and the Triassic. New morphological information regarding two bizarre basal anomodonts is provided and their palaeoecological significance is explored. The osteology of the recently discovered Tiarajudens eccentricus Cisneros et al. 2011, from the Brazilian Permian, is described in detail. The taxon exhibits unusual postcranial features, including the presence of gastralia. Additional preparation and computed tomography scans of the holotype of Anomocephalus africanus Modesto et al. 1999 discovered in the Karoo Basin of South Africa allow a reappraisal of this genus. Anomocephalus is similar to Tiarajudens with regard to several traits, including a battery of large, transversally expanded, palatal teeth. Molariform teeth are present in the mandible of the African taxon, providing additional insight into the function of the earliest tooth-occlusion mechanism known in therapsids. At least two waves of tooth replacement can be recognized in the palate of Anomocephalus. The outsized, blade-like caniniforms of the herbivorous Tiarajudens allow several non-exclusive ecological interpretations, among which we favour intraspecific display or combat. This behaviour was an alternative to the head-butting practised by the contemporary dinocephalians. Combat specializations that are considered typical of Cenozoic herbivores likely evolved during the Middle Permian, at the time the first communities with diverse, abundant tetrapod herbivores were being assembled.

Keywords: Anomodontia; Permian; Therapsida; agonistic behaviour; dental occlusion; herbivory

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