Gorynychus

Gorynychus
Temporal range: Mid Permian
Skull of holotype in right lateral view
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Order:Therapsida
Suborder:†Therocephalia
Genus:†Gorynychus
Kammerer & Masyutin, 2018
Type species
Gorynychus masyutinae
Kammerer & Masyutin, 2018

Gorynychus is a genus of therapsid from the mid-Permian from Kotelnich, Russia. The genus is monospecific, containing the single species G. masyutinae. It was named after the three-headed dragon Zmey Gorynych (Змей Горыныч) from Russian mythology.[1][2]

Description

The species, only known from its holotype, was wolf-sized and appears to have represented the largest predator in the Kotelnich fauna. Like many theriodonts, it had strongly developed and prominent canine teeth.[1]

Paleoecology

The discovery of such a large therocephalian as the apex predator of its environment coupled with the discovery of a smaller gorgonopsid, the smaller and nocturnal Nochnitsa, in the same formation indicates that a faunal turnover was occurring at the time, with therocephalians taking over the gorgonopsians' role as the dominant predators in their environment.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 Kammerer, CF; Masyutin, V. (2018). "A new therocephalian (Gorynychus masyutinae gen. et sp. nov.) from the Permian Kotelnich locality, Kirov Region, Russia". PeerJ. 6: e4933. doi:10.7717/peerj.4933.
  2. 1 2 North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (June 8, 2018). "'Monstrous' new Russian saber-tooth fossils clarify early evolution of mammal lineage". ScienceDaily. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
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