Variety of Life

Reconstruction of Kannemeyeria, copyright Dmitry Bogdanov.

Belongs within: Dicynodontia.

The Kannemeyeriiformes are a cosmopolitan clade of dicynodonts known from the Triassic, some members of which reached the size of a modern cow. Members of the clade are united by a markedly enlarged preacetabular expansion of the iliac blade, a distinctly offset caput femoris on the femur, and an olecranon ulnae formed by a separate ossification (Maisch 2000).

<==Kannemeyeriiformes
    |--Shansiodontidae M00
    |    |--Vinceria Bonaparte 1967 M00
    |    `--+--Rhinodicynodon Kalandadze 1970 M00
    |       `--+--Shansiodon Yeh 1959 M00
    |          `--Tetragonias Cruickshank 1967 M00
    |               `--T. njalilus M00
    `--+--Kannemeyeriidae M00
       |    |--Rabidosaurus Kalandadze 1970 M00
       |    |--Wadiasaurus Roy-Chowdhury 1970 M00
       |    |    `--W. indicus M00
       |    `--Kannemeyeria Seeley 1908 M00
       |         |--K. erithrea D07
       |         |--K. jenseni D07
       |         `--K. simocephala M00
       `--+--Dinodontosauridae [Dinodontosaurinae, Sinokannemeyeriini] M00
          |    |--Dinodontosaurus Romer 1943 M00
          |    `--+--Sinokannemeyeriinae M00
          |       |    |--Parakannemeyeria Sun 1960 M00
          |       |    `--Sinokannemeyeria Young 1937 M00
          |       `--Rechnisaurinae M00
          |            |  i. s.: Shaanbeikannemeyeria Cheng 1980 M00
          |            |--Rhadiodromus Efremov 1951 (see below for synonymy) M00
          |            `--+--Rechnisaurus Roy-Chowdhury 1970 M00
          |               `--Sangusaurus Cox 1969 M00
          |                    `--S. parringtonii NB17
          `--Stahleckeriidae M00
               |--Stahleckeriinae M00
               |    |--Angonisaurus Cox & Li 1983 M00
               |    |    `--A. cruickshanki NB17
               |    |--Stahleckeria von Huene 1925 [incl. Barysoma Cox 1965] M00
               |    |    `--S. potens von Huene 1935 [incl. S. lenzii Romer & Price 1944, Barysoma lenzii] M00
               |    `--Zambiasaurus Cox 1968 M00
               |         `--Z. submersus M00
               `--Placeriinae M00
                    |--Moghreberia Dutuit 1980 M00
                    |--Placerias Lucas 1904 M00
                    |    `--P. gigas M00
                    `--Ischigualastia Cox 1962 M00
                         `--I. jenseni M00

Kannemeyeriiformes incertae sedis:
  Jachaleria Bonaparte 1971 M00
  Dolichuranus Keyer 1973 M00
  Azarifeneria Dutuit 1989 (n. d.) M00
  Calleonasus Kalandadze 1986 (n. d.) M00
  Edaxosaurus Kalandadze 1986 (n. d.) M00
  Elatosaurus Kalandadze 1986 (n. d.) M00
  Nasoplanites Surkov 1999 M00
  Cristonasus Surkov 1999 M00
  Parvobestiola Surkov 1999 M00
  Planitorostris Surkov 1999 M00

Rhadiodromus Efremov 1951 [incl. Rhinocerocephalus Vjushkov 1969, Uralokannemeyeria Danilov 1971] M00

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[D07] Dixon, D. 2007. The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Creatures. Hermes House: London.

[M00] Maisch, M. W. 2000. Observations on Karoo and Gondwana vertebrates. Part 2: A new skull-reconstruction of Stahleckeria potens von Huene, 1935 (Dicynodontia, Middle Triassic) and a reconstruction of kannemeyeriiform phylogeny. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie Abhandlungen 220 (1): 127–152.

[NB17] Nesbitt, S. J., R. J. Butler, M. D. Ezcurra, P. M. Barrett, M. R. Stocker, K. D. Angielczyk, R. M. H. Smith, C. A. Sidor, G. Niedźwiedzki, A. G. Sennikov & A. J. Charig. 2017. The earliest bird-line archosaurs and the assembly of the dinosaur body plan. Nature 544: 484–487.

Mounted skeleton of Lystrosaurus murrayi in the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, Paris, photographed by FunkMonk.

Belongs within: Eutherapsida.
Contains: Kannemeyeriiformes.

The Dicynodontia are a group of herbivorous synapsids known from the the Late Permian to the Cretaceous, though they did not survive past the Late Triassic outside Australia. At their peak, they were the world's dominant herbivores. One genus, Lystrosaurus, included the most abundant terrestrial vertebrates in the earliest Triassic immediately following the end-Permian mass extinction. The name 'dicynodont' refers to the pair of large tusks that were generally the only teeth in their beaked jaws.

Synapomorphies (from Kemp 1988): Zygomatic arch dorsally displaced; dentaries fused at symphysis; articular surface of lower jaw sloping posteroventrally; horn developed on the jaws; intramandibular fenestra present; premaxillary secondary palate present.

<==Dicynodontia
    |--Kombuisia M00
    |--Myosaurus M00
    `--Pristerodontia M00
         |  i. s.: Odontocyclops M00
         |--Lystrosaurus Cope 1870 M00, D07 [Lystrosauridae]
         |    |--L. curvatus D07
         |    |--L. declivis D07
         |    |--L. georgi D07
         |    |--L. hedini D07
         |    |--L. mccaigi D07
         |    |--L. murrayi M00
         |    |--L. oviceps D07
         |    |--L. platycopes D07
         |    |--L. rajurkari D07
         |    |--L. robustus D07
         |    |--L. shichanggouensis D07
         |    `--L. weidenrichi D07
         `--+--+--Dinanomodon M00
            |  `--Kannemeyeriiformes M00
            `--Dicynodon Owen 1845 M00, D07 [Dicynodontidae]
                 |--D. bolorhinus D07
                 |--D. grimbeeki D07
                 |--D. lacerticeps M00
                 |--D. leontops D07
                 |--D. lissops D07
                 |--D. osborni D07
                 |--D. plateceps D07
                 |--D. trautscholdi D07
                 |--D. trigonocephalus D07
                 |--D. turpior D07
                 `--D. whaitsi D07

Dicynodontia incertae sedis:
  Cistecephalus Owen 1876 D07
    `--C. microrhinus D07
  Emydoses M00
  Otsheria K88
  Venyukovioidea TT05
    |  i. s.: Suminia getmanovi Ivakhnenko 1994 TT05
    `--Venyukoviidae TT05
         |--Ulemica efremovi Ivakhnenko 1996 TT05
         `--Venjukovia K88
  Aulacocephalodon peavoti N85
  Diictodon Owen 1876 D07
    `--E. feliceps D07

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[D07] Dixon, D. 2007. The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Creatures. Hermes House: London.

[K88] Kemp, T. S. 1988. Interrelationships of the Synapsida. In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Phylogeny and Classification of the Tetrapods vol. 2. Mammals pp. 1–22. Clarendon Press: Oxford.

[M00] Maisch, M. W. 2000. Observations on Karoo and Gondwana vertebrates. Part 2: A new skull-reconstruction of Stahleckeria potens von Huene, 1935 (Dicynodontia, Middle Triassic) and a reconstruction of kannemeyeriiform phylogeny. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie Abhandlungen 220 (1): 127–152.

[N85] Norman, D. 1985 (reprinted 2000). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs. Salamander Books: London.

[TT05] Tverdokhlebov, V. P., G. I. Tverdokhlebova, A. V. Minikh, M. V. Surkov & M. J. Benton. 2005. Upper Permian vertebrates and their sedimentological context in the South Urals, Russia. Earth-Science Reviews 69: 27–77.

Last updated: 24 August 2018.