Eotitanosuchidae is an extinct family of biarmosuchiantherapsids. The Eotitanosuchidae were large predatory therapsids of the Wordian epoch. It was once considered to belong to a separate infraorder of therapsids called Eotitanosuchia.
The Eotitanosuchians seem to be more advanced than the Biarmosuchia in that the temporal opening behind the eye socket—although small—is still somewhat larger than the biarmosuchians; it is expanded in the upper rear (posterodorsal) margin, allowing the area of attachment of the adductor (jaw closing) muscles to be visible from the dorsal (top) view looking down. The eotitanosuchian bite was stronger and more efficient than the biarmosuchian bite. For this reason, some paleontologists see the eotitanosuchids as transitional between the biarmosuchians and higher therapsids. It is at least as likely that features of a larger temporal opening—and hence increased muscle mass and biting power—evolved simultaneously among a number of early therapsid groups, due to the obvious advantages this adaptation conferred. One must be wary in applying cladistic methodology to characteristics that are likely to evolve simultaneously among many competing lineages. In other respects the eotitanosuchians are quite primitive; they were the least modified in their jaw apparatus from their sphenacodont ancestry.
Referencesedit
The main groups of non-mammalian synapsids at Mikko's Phylogeny Archive
External linksedit
Therapsida: Biarmosuchia at Palaeos
This therapsid-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
eotitanosuchidae, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, addin. This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Eotitanosuchidae news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2015 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article includes a list of references related reading or external links but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations Please help improve this article by introducing more precise citations January 2015 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message Eotitanosuchidae is an extinct family of biarmosuchian therapsids The Eotitanosuchidae were large predatory therapsids of the Wordian epoch It was once considered to belong to a separate infraorder of therapsids called Eotitanosuchia EotitanosuchidaeTemporal range Wordian 267 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Life restoration of the eotitanosuchid Eotitanosuchus olsoniScientific classificationDomain EukaryotaKingdom AnimaliaPhylum ChordataClade SynapsidaClade TherapsidaSuborder BiarmosuchiaInfraorder EotitanosuchiaBoonstra 1963Family EotitanosuchidaeTchudinov 1960Type species Eotitanosuchus olsoniTchudinov 1960Genera Eotitanosuchus Kamagorgon IvantosaurusCharacteristics editThe Eotitanosuchians seem to be more advanced than the Biarmosuchia in that the temporal opening behind the eye socket although small is still somewhat larger than the biarmosuchians it is expanded in the upper rear posterodorsal margin allowing the area of attachment of the adductor jaw closing muscles to be visible from the dorsal top view looking down The eotitanosuchian bite was stronger and more efficient than the biarmosuchian bite For this reason some paleontologists see the eotitanosuchids as transitional between the biarmosuchians and higher therapsids It is at least as likely that features of a larger temporal opening and hence increased muscle mass and biting power evolved simultaneously among a number of early therapsid groups due to the obvious advantages this adaptation conferred One must be wary in applying cladistic methodology to characteristics that are likely to evolve simultaneously among many competing lineages In other respects the eotitanosuchians are quite primitive they were the least modified in their jaw apparatus from their sphenacodont ancestry References editThe main groups of non mammalian synapsids at Mikko s Phylogeny ArchiveExternal links editTherapsida Biarmosuchia at Palaeos nbsp This therapsid related article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Eotitanosuchidae amp oldid 1058699861, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
