Labidosaurikos Temporal range: Early Permian,
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Family: | †Captorhinidae |
Subfamily: | †Moradisaurinae |
Genus: | †Labidosaurikos Stovall, 1950 |
Species | |
Labidosaurikos is a genus of extinct captorhinid tetrapods that lived around 279 to 272 million years ago during Kungurian age of the lower Permian.[3] The American paleontologist John Willis Stovall first described Labidosaurikos in 1950, naming it "Labidosaurus like" for the striking similarity of the holotype skull of his specimen to the cranial anatomy of another captorhinid Labidosaurus hamatus.[4]
Labidosaurikos is an important find in Permian red beds of North America, where captorhinids are commonly found, as it is a key discovery in the evolution of herbivory in large captorhinids given its multi-row tooth plates.[5] This is a characteristic it does not share with its name-sake Labidosaurus hamatus whose dentition resembles more basal, mainly single-tooth-rowed forms.[6] The first fossils of Labidosaurikos came from Oklahoma and later finds were discovered in Texas.[6]
Most information attributed to Labidosaurikos is based on the cranial anatomy of the only well supported species Labidosaurikos meachami as there are no collections of the appendicular skeleton.[6] Captorhinid anatomy and interrelationships are known primarily from other lower Permian genera such as Romeria, Protocaptorhinus, Rhiodenticulatus, Captorhinus and Labidosaurus.[6] Labidosaurikos is a part of a less well known collection of captorhinids from younger Permian deposits, Moradisaurus is an example.[7]