Ianthodon

Ianthodon Temporal range: Pennsylvanian 305.9–303.4 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Synapsida
Clade:	Sphenacodontia
Genus:	†Ianthodon
Type species
†Ianthodon schultzei Kissel & Reisz, 2004
Species
†Ianthodon schultzei Kissel & Reisz, 2004

Ianthodon is an extinct genus of basal sphenacodont synapsid from the Late Carboniferous known from the Garnett locality of Kansas.^[1]

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.^[1]

See also

• List of pelycosaurs

References

1. Spindler, F.; Scott, Diane; Reisz, Robert (October 2014). "New information on the cranial and postcranial anatomy of the early synapsid Ianthodon schultzei (Sphenacomorpha: Sphenacodontia), and its evolutionary significance".

• Kissel, R. A. & Reisz, R. R. Synapsid fauna of the Upper Pennsylvanian Rock Lake Shale near Garnett, Kansas and the diversity pattern of early amniotes. In G. Arratia, M. V. H. Wilson & R. Cloutier (eds.). Recent Advances in the Origin and Early Radiation of Vertebrates. Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, 2004.