Varanosaurus

Varanosaurus; Temporal range: Early Permian, 280 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Family:	†Ophiacodontidae
Genus:	†Varanosaurus; Broili, 1904
Type species
	†Varanosaurus acutirostris; Broili, 1904
Species
	†V. acutirostris Broili 1904 (type); †V. wichitaensis Romer 1937;

Varanosaurus ('monitor lizard') is an extinct genus of early pelycosaur synapsid that lived during the Kungurian.^{[citation needed]}

A reconstruction of Varanosaurus acutirostris

Description[]

Varanosaurus acutirostris being devoured by Dimetrodon limbatus

As its name implies, Varanosaurus may have looked superficially similar to present-day monitor lizards.^{[citation needed]}

Varanosaurus had a flattened, elongated skull and a pointed snout with a row of sharp teeth, including two pairs of conspicuous pseudocanines, implying that it was an active predator.^[2]

Varanosaurus probably lived in swamps, competing with the larger Ophiacodon for food.^{[citation needed]}

Classification[]

Below is a cladogram modified from the analysis of Benson (2012):^[3]

Tseajaia campi

Limnoscelis paludis

Amniota

	Captorhinus spp.

	Protorothyris archeri

Synapsida

Caseasauria

Ianthodon schultzei

	Edaphosauridae

	Sphenacodontia

Varanopidae

Ophiacodontidae

Archaeothyris florensis

Varanosaurus acutirostris

	Ophiacodon spp.

	Stereophallodon ciscoensis

References[]

^ "Varanosaurus". Fossilworks. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
^ Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 187. ISBN 978-1-84028-152-1.
^ Benson, R.J. (2012). "Interrelationships of basal synapsids: cranial and postcranial morphological partitions suggest different topologies". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. in press (4): 601–624. doi:10.1080/14772019.2011.631042.

Varanosaurus

Contents

Description[]

Classification[]

See also[]

References[]

Further reading[]