Moschops

Graphical live reconstruction of Moschops capensis

• South Africa ( Karoo Supergroup, Beaufort Group)

• Moschops capensis Broom, 1911

Moschops is an extinct genus of Dinocephalia. The fossils date from the Upper Permian of Moschops of South Africa and dated to an age of 255 million years. The remains of the only known way Moschops capensis were first described in 1911 by Robert Broom.

Features

Moschops was two and a half feet long. The brisket was very large with 25 paired ribs. The limbs were strong, in relation to the feet were rather small. The hind legs were already held directly under the body, such as in mammals, but the front legs spread away from the body, as in the " reptiles ". The animal's head was very small in comparison to body size; this reminds of the herbivorous Pelycosaurier. The muzzle was rounded, but the posterior portion increased to a broad, massive structure. The skullcap was up to 10 cm thick. However, it was not as strongly arched as in the close relatives Tapinocephalus.

Discovery history

Fossils of Moschops were for the first time by Robert Broom in the Ecca Group found (part of the Karoo Supergroup ) in South Africa. The stratigraphic assignment was uncertain, but as near Pareiasaurus fossils were found, the assignment seems likely. The fossils include a holotype (AMNH 5550) and seven Typotypen ( AMNH 5551-5557 ). The skulls of the specimens are thickened differently, according to Broom this is due to different gender / age classes. The specimens were sent in 1910 to the American Museum of Natural History in New York and described in 1911.

System

Moschops is a Dinocephalia. He belongs to the family of Tapinocephalidae whose sister taxon are the Titanosuchidae. Both are sold as Tapinocephalia or Titanosuchia summarized.

Paleobiology

Pachyostose

The skullcap of the animal was thickened ( Pachyostose ). It was probably used to head bumping, similar to sheep, goats or Pachycephalosauriern. The main force of the impact encountered the thickened dorsal plate of the skull and was broadcast over the sides of the thick and considerably shifted under the skull condyles of the occipital bone ( occipital condyles ). The condyle was exactly on the connecting line between the spine and the point of impact on the skull roof. The shock was passed from there to the cervical spine and transferred into a powerful shoulder region.

Swell

• Gregory William: The skeleton of Moschops capensis, a reptile from the Permian dinocephalian of South Africa. In: Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 56, No. 3, 1926, pp. 179-251 (online).
• Michael J. Benton: vertebrate paleontology. 2007, ISBN 3-89937-072-4, pp. 139-140

• Synapsids
• Synapsida