| Lycaenops | |
|---|---|
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| L. ornatus skeleton,American Museum of Natural History | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Synapsida |
| Clade: | Therapsida |
| Clade: | †Gorgonopsia |
| Family: | †Gorgonopsidae |
| Genus: | †Lycaenops Broom,1925 |
| Type species | |
| Lycaenops ornatus Broom, 1925 | |
| Species | |
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| Synonyms | |
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Lycaenops ("wolf-face") is agenus ofcarnivoroustherapsids. It lived during theMiddle Permian to the early Late Permian, about 260 mya, in what is nowSouth Africa.[1]
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Like the modern-day wolves from which it took its name,Lycaenops had a long and slender skull, with dog-likefangs set into its upper and lower jaws.[2] These pointed canine teeth were ideal for stabbing and/or tearing at the flesh of any large prey that it came upon.Lycaenops most likely hunted small vertebrates such asreptiles anddicynodonts.
Lycaenops walked and ran with its long legs held close to its body. This feature is found in mammals but not in more primitiveamniotes, early reptiles, andsynapsids such aspelycosaurs, whose legs are positioned to the sides of their bodies. The ability to move like a mammal would have givenLycaenops an advantage over other land vertebrates since it would have been able to outrun them.
Thetype speciesLycaenops ornatus was named by South African paleontologistRobert Broom in 1925.[3]
Several other species have also been referred to the genus, includingL. angusticeps, which was originally namedScymnognathus angusticeps. It is currently considered a valid taxon.[4]
Several other specimens have been referred to asLycaenops but are no longer included within this genus. This includes:
Below is acladogram from the phylogenetic analysis of Gebauer (2007):[5]
| Gorgonopsia | |
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