Megawhaitsia

Meg-ah-wayt-se-ah.
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John Stewart

Paleoecologist

John Stewart is a distinguished paleoecologist whose work has significantly advanced our understanding of prehistoric ecosystems. With over two decades dedicated to unearthing fossils across Asia and Africa

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Name

Megawhaitsia.

Phonetic

Meg-ah-wayt-se-ah.

Named By

M.‭ ‬F.‭ ‬Ivakhnenko‭ ‬-‭ ‬2008.

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Synapsida,‭ ‬Therapsida,‭ ‬Therocephalia,‭ ‬Whaitsiidae.

Diet

Carnivore.

Species

M.‭ ‬patrichae‭

Size

‭ ‬Skull estimated to be about‭ ‬40‭ ‬to‭ ‬50‭ ‬centimetres long.

Known locations

Russia.

Time Period

Wuchiapingian of the Permian.

Fossil representation

Maxilla.

In Depth

       Megawhaitsia is a genus of therocephalian therapsid that lived in Russia during the Permian.‭ ‬At the time of its description,‭ ‬Megawhaitsia is only known from a single portion of maxilla,‭ ‬the tooth bearing bone of the upper jaw.‭ ‬However,‭ ‬reconstructions of the skull of Megawhaitsia based upon scaling to the maxilla have revealed that the skull would have been somewhere in the region of forty to fifty centimetres long,‭ ‬This alone indicates that by the standards of the Late Permian,‭ ‬Megawhaitsia would have been a very large predator.

Further Reading

-‭ ‬The First Whaitsiid‭ (‬Therocephalia,‭ ‬Theromorpha‭) ‬from the Terminal Permian of Eastern Europe.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Paleontological Journal‭ ‬42‭(‬4‭)‬:409-413.‭ ‬-‭ ‬M.‭ ‬F.‭ ‬Ivakhnenko – 2008.

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