Eriphostoma
Extinct genus of therapsids
title: "Eriphostoma" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["gorgonopsia", "prehistoric-therapsid-genera", "guadalupian-synapsids", "guadalupian-synapsids-of-africa", "taxa-named-by-robert-broom", "capitanian-genus-first-appearances", "capitanian-genus-extinctions", "fossil-taxa-described-in-1911"] description: "Extinct genus of therapsids" topic_path: "general/gorgonopsia" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eriphostoma" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Extinct genus of therapsids ::
| fossil_range = Middle Permian, | image = Eriphostoma skull.jpg | image_caption = Skull | taxon = Eriphostoma | authority = Broom, 1911 | type_species = Eriphostoma microdon | type_species_authority = Broom, 1911 | synonyms =
- Eoarctops vanderbyli Haughton, 1929
- Galesuchus gracilis Haughton, 1915
- Scylacognathus parvus Haughton, 1913
Eriphostoma is an extinct genus of gorgonopsian therapsids known from the Middle Permian (middle Capitanian stage) of Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone, South Africa. It has one known species, Eriphostoma microdon, and was first named by Robert Broom in 1911. It is the oldest known gorgonopsian and among the smallest and most basal members of the clade.
History
Eriphostoma was named in 1911 by Robert Broom, based on a poorly preserved specimen collected by the Reverend J. H. Whaits in the town of Fraserburg Road (now Leeu-Gamka), South Africa. The holotype was accessioned in the American Museum of Natural History with the specimen number AMNH FARB 5524. It was the first named gorgonopsian from the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone of the Beaufort Group. Despite its status as one of the oldest known gorgonopsians, its poor preservation meant that the specimen was largely ignored for the rest of the 20th century, and typically regarded as a nomen dubium. A 1989 comprehensive revision of gorgonopsians only briefly mentioned it as an indeterminate theriodont.
However, in 2014, CT scanning of the holotype allowed its redescription as a valid species of gorgonopsian. Further study, and the discovery of new specimens, allowed most gorgonopsians from the Tapinocephalus AZ to be synonymized. The species Eriphostoma microdon, Scylacognathus parvus, Galesuchus gracilis, and Eoarctops vanderbyli were synonymized, and Eriphostoma microdon became the valid name due to the Principle of Priority. A fifth species of Tapinocephalus AZ gorgonopsian, Broomisaurus planiceps, is probably also synonymous, but it is currently a nomen dubium due to its poor state of preparation.
Description
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Eriphostoma_microdon.png" caption="[[Life restoration"] ::
Gorgonopsians were a morphologically conservative group, and like all gorgonopsians, Eriphostoma would have been a quadrupedal predator. It was among the smaller members of the group,{{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=dQd2DwAAQBAJ | title = Mammalian Evolution, Diversity and Systematics | publisher = De Gruyter | date = October 22, 2018 | access-date = 2022-08-25 | page = 159 | author = Frank Zachos, Robert Asher | isbn = 978-3-11-034155-3
Classification
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Photographs_of_the_basicranial_girder_in_Russian_and_African_gorgonopsians.png" caption="Basicranial girder in Russian and African gorgonopsians; (A) is ''Eriphostoma''"] ::
Eriphostoma is one of the most basal member of an endemic African radiation of gorgonopsians. |label1 = Gorgonopsia |1={{clade |1=Nochnitsa |2={{clade |1=Viatkogorgon |2={{clade |label1="Russian clade" |1={{clade |1=Suchogorgon |2={{clade |1=Sauroctonus |2={{clade |1=Pravoslavlevia |2=Inostrancevia }} }} }} |label2="African clade" |2={{clade |1=Phorcys |2=Eriphostoma |3=Gorgonops |4={{clade |1 =Cynariops |2={{clade |1=Lycaenops |2={{clade |1=Smilesaurus |2=Arctops }} |3={{clade |1=Arctognathus |2=Rubidgeinae }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }}
Palaeoenvironment
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Eoarctops.jpg" caption="Restoration of the head"] ::
All known specimens of Eriphostoma are from the Beaufort Group of South Africa. The holotype is from the Abrahamskraal Formation, but some of the referred specimens are from the overlying Teekloof Formation. Biostratigraphically, it ranges from the upper Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone to the upper Pristerognathus Assemblage Zone, and is the oldest known gorgonopsian.
References
| first = Christian F. | last = Kammerer | year = 2014 | chapter = A Redescription of Eriphostoma microdon Broom, 1911 (Therapsida, Gorgonopsia) from the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone of South Africa and a Review of Middle Permian Gorgonopsians | editor-first1 = Christian F. | editor-last1 = Kammerer | editor-first2 = Kenneth D. | editor-last2 = Angielczyk | editor-first3 = Jörg | editor-last3 = Fröbisch | title = Early Evolutionary History of the Synapsida | series = Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology | publisher = Springer | pages = 171–184 | isbn = 978-94-007-6840-6 | doi = 10.1007/978-94-007-6841-3_11 | first1 = Christian F. | last1 = Kammerer | first2 = Roger M.H. | last2=Smith | first3 = Michael O. | last3 = Day | first4 = Bruce S. | last4 = Rubidge | date = 2015 | title = New information on the morphology and stratigraphic range of the mid‐Permian gorgonopsian Eriphostoma microdon Broom, 1911 | journal = Papers in Palaeontology | volume = 1 | issue = 2 | pages= 201–221 | doi = 10.1002/spp2.1012
References
- (2022). "The earliest gorgonopsians from the Karoo Basin of South Africa". [[Journal of African Earth Sciences]].
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::