Lycideops

Lycideops is an extinct genus of therocephalians from the Late Permian of South Africa. The type species is Lycideops longiceps, named in 1931 by South African paleontologist Robert Broom. Fossils of Lycideops come from the Dicynodon Assemblage Zone of the Beaufort Group.[1] Lycideops is a member of the family Lycideopidae. Like other lycideopids, Lycideops has a long snout.[2]

Lycideops
Temporal range: Late Permian
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Therapsida
Suborder: †Therocephalia
Family: †Lycideopidae
Genus: †Lycideops
Broom, 1931
Type species
†Lycideops longiceps
Broom, 1931

Phylogeny

Lycideops has been included in several phylogenetic analyses, including those of Huttenlocker (2009), Huttenlocker et al. (2011), and Sigurdsen et al. (2012). All place Lycideops within the advanced therocephalian clade Baurioidea. Huttenlocker (2009) and Huttenlocker et al. (2011) found it to group with Regisaurus and Scaloposaurus as shown in the cladogram below:[3][4]

Baurioidea
 

Ictidosuchus

 
 
 

Ictidosuchops

 
 
 

Ictidosuchoides

 
 
 
 

Lycideops

 
 
 

Regisaurus

 
 

Scaloposaurus

 
 
 
 
 

Tetracynodon

 
 
 

Ericiolacerta

 
 

Bauria

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The analysis of Sigurdsen et al. (2012) came to a different result, grouping Lycideops with Tetracynodon and Choerosaurus. The clade including these three genera was called Lycideopidae, and Lycideops was the most basal member of the group. Characteristics that unite Lycideops with Tetracynodon and Choerosaurus include the presence of five incisors on each side of the lower jaw (a derived characteristic given that most other eutherocephalians have four), a lacrimal bone that touches the nasal bone, and a contact between the maxilla and the vomer in the palate. Below is a cladogram from the analysis:[2]

Baurioidea
 

Ictidosuchus primaevus

 
 

Ictidosuchops rubidgei

 
 

Ictidosuchoides longiceps

 
 

Regisaurus jacobi

 
 

Scaloposaurus constrictus

 
 

Ericiolacerta parva

 
 

Bauriidae

 
Lycideopidae
 

Lycideops longiceps

 
 
 

Choerosaurus dejageri

 
 
 

Tetracynodon tenuis

 
 

Tetracynodon darti

 
 
 
 
 

References

  1. Abdala, F.; Rubidge, B. S.; Van Den Heever, J. (2008). "The Oldest Therocephalians (Therapsida, Eutheriodontia) and the Early Diversification of Therapsida". Palaeontology. 51 (4): 1011. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2008.00784.x.
  2. Sigurdsen, T.; Huttenlocker, A. K.; Modesto, S. P.; Rowe, T. B.; Damiani, R. (2012). "Reassessment of the morphology and paleobiology of the therocephalian Tetracynodon darti (Therapsida), and the phylogenetic relationships of Baurioidea". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 32 (5): 1113. doi:10.1080/02724634.2012.688693.
  3. Huttenlocker, A. (2009). "An investigation into the cladistic relationships and monophyly of therocephalian therapsids (Amniota: Synapsida)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 157 (4): 865–891. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00538.x.
  4. Huttenlocker, A. K.; Sidor, C. A.; Smith, R. M. H. (2011). "A new specimen of Promoschorhynchus (Therapsida: Therocephalia: Akidnognathidae) from the Lower Triassic of South Africa and its implications for theriodont survivorship across the Permo-Triassic boundary". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 31 (2): 405. doi:10.1080/02724634.2011.546720.
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