Aelurognathus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of therapsids}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = Wuchiapingian, {{fossil_range|260.9|254}} | image = Aelurognathus tigriceps.png | image_upright = 1.15 | image_caption = Holotype skull of ''A. tigriceps'' | taxon = Aelurognathus | authority = Haughton, 1924 | type_species = {{extinct}}'''''Scymnognathus tigriceps''''' | type_species_authority = Broom and Haughton, 1913 | synonyms = '''Genus-level''' * ''Gorgonorhinus'' Broom, 1937 *''Leontocephalus'' Broom, 1940 *''Prorubidgea'' Broom, 1940 *''Tigricephalus'' Broom, 1948 '''Species-level''' * ''Scymnognathus serratidens'' Haughton, 1915 * ''Gorgorhinus luckhoffi'' Broom, 1937 * ''Leontocephalus cadlei'' Broom, 1940 * ''Prorubidgea maccabei'' Broom, 1940 * ''Sycosaurus brodiei'' Broom, 1941 * ''Gorgorhinus minor'' Broom, 1948 * ''Tigricephalus kingwilli'' Broom, 1948 * ''Lycaenops alticeps'' Brink & Kitching, 1953 * ''Prorubidgea brinki'' Manten, 1959 * ''Aelurognathus broodei'' Gebauer, 2007 }}

'''''Aelurognathus''''' is an extinct genus of gorgonopsian therapsids from the Permian of South Africa and Zambia.<ref name=":0" />

==Discovery== thumb|left|''A. tigriceps'' restoration thumb|left|''A. sp.'' skull at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin The type species is ''Aelurognathus tigriceps'', originally named ''Scymnognathus tigriceps'' by South African paleontologists Robert Broom and Sydney H. Haughton in 1913, and later assigned to the new genus ''Aelurognathus'' by Haughton in 1924.

''Scymnognathus parringtoni'' von Huene, 1950, previously assigned to ''Aelurognathus'', is now classified as a species of ''Sauroctonus''.<ref>Gebauer E I, 2014. Re-assessment of the taxonomic position of the specimen GPIT/RE/7113 (Sauroctonus parringtoni comb. nov., Gorgonopsia). In: Kammerer C F, Angielczyk K D, Fröbisch J eds. Early Evolutionary History of the Synapsida. Dordrecht: Springer. 185−207.</ref> ''Aelurognathus nyasaensis'' Haughton, 1926 is not referable to the genus.<ref name=":0">Kammerer CF. (2016) Systematics of the Rubidgeinae (Therapsida: Gorgonopsia) PeerJ 4:e1608 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1608</ref>

==Palaeobiology== A broken tooth beside the skeleton of a dicynodont from the ''Tropidostoma'' Assemblage Zone has been attributed to ''Aelurognathus'', indicating that it scavenged. The bones of the back of the skeleton are the most scattered, suggesting that the ''Aelurognathus'' individuals fed on the rear of the carcass, removing the hind limbs to reach the soft underside. The small incisor teeth of ''Aelurognathus'' indicate that it was not able to crush bone but more likely stripped flesh from its prey like the modern-day wild dog ''Lycaon pictus''. Bite marks on the bones of the skeleton were unlikely to have been made by ''Aelurognathus'' and may be an indication that another predator killed the dicynodont.<ref name=FSC12>{{Cite journal | last1 = Fordyce | first1 = N. | last2 = Smith | first2 = R. | last3 = Chinsamy | first3 = A. | title = Evidence of a therapsid scavenger in the Late Permian Karoo Basin, South Africa | doi = 10.4102/sajs.v108i11/12.1158 | journal = South African Journal of Science | volume = 108 | issue = 11/12 | year = 2012 | doi-access = free | hdl = 11427/29098 | hdl-access = free }}</ref>

==Classification== Below is a cladogram from the phylogenetic analysis of Gebauer (2007):<ref name=GEVI07>{{Cite thesis |title=Phylogeny and evolution of the Gorgonopsia with a special reference to the skull and skeleton of GPIT/RE/7113 ("Aelurognathus"? parringtoni) |url=http://tobias-lib.uni-tuebingen.de/volltexte/2007/2935/pdf/Eva_Gebauer.pdf |last=Gebauer |first=E.V.I. |year=2007 |publisher=Dissertation Universität Tübingen |archive-date=2012-07-22 |access-date=2012-04-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722014133/http://tobias-lib.uni-tuebingen.de/volltexte/2007/2935/pdf/Eva_Gebauer.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> thumb|Restoration {{clade| style=font-size:100%;line-height:85% |label1=Gorgonopsia |1={{clade |1=''Aloposaurus'' |2={{clade |1=''Cyonosaurus'' |2={{clade |1=''Aelurosaurus'' |label2=Gorgonopsidae |2={{clade |1=''Scylacognathus'' |2={{clade |1=''Eoarctops'' |2=''Gorgonops'' |3={{clade |1=''Njalila'' |2={{clade |1=''Lycaenops'' |2={{clade |1=''Arctognathus'' |2={{clade |1=''Inostrancevia'' |label2=Rubidgeinae |2={{clade |1='''''Aelurognathus''''' |2={{clade |1=''Rubidgea'' |2={{clade |1=''Sycosaurus'' |2=''Clelandina'' }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }}

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Gorgonopsia Category:Prehistoric therapsid genera Category:Permian synapsids of Africa Category:Fossil taxa described in 1924 Category:Taxa named by Sidney H. Haughton