Kannemeyeria
Name:
Kannemeyeria
(From Kanne).
Phonetic: Kan-eh-my-air-ee-ah.
Named By: Harry Govier Seeley - 1908.
Synonyms: Shaanbeikannemeyeria.
Classification: Chordata, Synapsida,
Therapsida, Dicynodontia, Kannemeyeriidae.
Species: K. simocephalus (type),
K. aganosteus, K. lophorhinus.
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: 3 meters long.
Known locations: Africa, Asia, India, South
America.
Time period: Olenekian to Anisian of the Triassic.
Fossil representation: Many specimens known.
The
incredibly broad range of Kannemeyeria fossils
indicates that it
probably had a worldwide distribution, especially across the southern
continents. It is unknown how far north the full extent of
Kannemeyeria was, but other similar dicynodonts
such as Placerias
are
known from North America.
Kannemeyeria
is what you might call a typical large dicynodont in that it possessed
a cropping beak for snipping vegetation as well as two downwards
pointing tusks that may have been used for digging up roots and
tubers. Kannemeyeria was towards the larger end
of the dicynodont
size scale, a size that was required to house the extensive digestive
system that was required to process plant material. To support this
weight and bulk the limb girdles was well developed to allow
Kannemeyeria to browse the Triassic plains at a slow
but stable gait.
The
skull of Kannemeyeria has large fenestral openings
that not only would
have significantly reduced the weight of the skull. There are also
areas for strong muscle attachment, something that would have
provided the beak of Kannemeyeria the ability to
shear through the
toughest plant material.
Despite
the large size, Kannemeyeria may have been prey
to large thecodonts
like Erythrosuchus.
Further reading
- The Skull of the Dicynodont Reptile Kannemeyeria.
- Proceedings of
the Zoological Society of London - Vol 94, Issue 3, pages 793–826 -
Helga S. Pearson M.Sc., F.Z.S - 1924.
- A further contribution to our knowledge of the fossil reptiles of the
Karroo. - Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London
107(3):299-318. - R. Broom - 1937.
- A taxonomic note concerning a dicynodont (Synapsida: Anomodontia)
from the Middle Triassic of East Africa. - Palaeontologia africana
39:93-94. - A. J. Renaut, R. J. Damiani, A. M. Yates & P. J.
Hancox - 2003.
-
Dicynodonts (Therapsida: Anomodontia) of South America. - Journal of
South American Earth Sciences. - C. F. Kammerer & M. D. Ordoņez -
2021.
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