Kingdom Animalia Genus †Ianthodon Rank Species | Clade Sphenacodontia Phylum Chordata | |
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Similar Pantelosaurus, Cryptovenator, Cutleria, Glaucosaurus, Haptodus | ||
Ianthodon is an extinct genus of basal sphenacodont synapsid from the Late Carboniferous known from the Garnett locality of Kansas.
Description
Ianthodon is the basalmost known sphenacodont. It can be distinguished from Haptodus by its narrower skull and dentition. Its teeth have wide bases but slender crowns, unusual among contemporary amniotes and indicating that Ianthodon occupied a different trophic niche from the bulbous-crowned Haptodus to which it was closely related. Like other sphenacodonts, Ianthodon has a tall lacrimal bone, and so would have had a proportionally taller snout than more basal synapsids such as varanopids and eothyridids.
References
Ianthodon Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA