Name: Captorhinus
(Capture nose.).
Phonetic: Cap-tor-hi-nus.
Named By: Edward Drinker Cope 1895.
Synonyms:Bayloria, Eocaptorhinus, Hyponous,
Hypopnous, Paracaptorhinus.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Amniota,
Captorhinida, Captorhinidae.
Species: C. aguti (type).
Type: Herbivore.
Size: Up to 80 centimetres long.
Known locations: USA, Oklahoma, Texas.
Time period: Lower Permian.
Fossil representation: Known from hundreds of
specimens.
The largest species of Captorhinus approaching eighty centimetres long is C. magnus, with other species around forty centimetres long. The other difference between the species is C. aguti which has more than one row of teeth. The arrangement of the teeth at the back of the mouth suggest that Captorhinus mashed plant leaves in its mouth before swallowing.
Further reading
- Osteology and Relationships of Captorhinus aguti
(Cope) (Reptilia:
Captorhinomorpha). - The University of Kansas Paleontological
Contributions, Series Vertebrata 11:1-79. - R. C. Fox & M. C.
Bowman
- 1966.
- Captorhinus vs. Hypopnous
(Reptilia, Captorhinomorpha). - Journal of
Paleontology 41(1):264-265. - D. Baird & R. L. Carroll - 1967.
- Captorhinus magnus, a new captorhinid (Amniota:
Eureptilia) from the
Lower Permian of Oklahoma, with new evidence on the homology of the
astragalus. - Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 39(9):1363-1372. - R.
A. Kissel, D. W. Dilkes & R. R. Reisz - 2002.
- The Ontogenetic Osteohistology of the Eureptile Captorhinus
aguti
(Reptilia: Captorhinidae) and the Community Histology of the Early
Permian Fissure-Fill Fauna Dolese Quarry, Richards Spur, Oklahoma. -
ProQuest. - E. J. Richards - 2016.
- Skull Sutures and Cranial Mechanics in the Permian Reptile Captorhinus
aguti and the Evolution of the Temporal Region in Early
Amniotes. -
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 10. - Pascal Abel1, Yannick
Pommery, David Paul Ford, Daisuke Koyabu & Ingmar Werneburg -
2022.