Aulacephalodon

Aulacephalodon is an extinct genus of medium-sized dicynodonts, or non-mammalian synapsids, that lived during late Permian period. Individuals of Aulacephalodon are commonly found in the Lower Beaufort Group of the Karoo Supergroup of South Africa. Rising to dominance during the Late Permian, Aulacephalodon was among the largest terrestrial vertebrate herbivores until its extinction during a turnover event. Three species are typically recognized, the type species, A. bainii, a second species, A. peavoti, and a third species, A. kapoliwacela. However, debate exists among paleontologists if A. peavoti is a true member of the genus Aulacephalodon. Aulacephalodon belongs to the family Geikiidae, a family of dicynodonts generally characterized by their short, broad skulls and large nasal bosses. Sexual dimorphism has been identified in A. bainii.

Aulacephalodon

Jonathan Chen · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
GeikiinaePBDB
Diet
herbivorePBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Amniota

Time the record covers

At most 8 million years on record.

Every occurrence read is dated to somewhere between 259.857 Mya and 251.902 Mya, and nothing in the dating separates them, so that window is what the record shows rather than a span.

Permian — about 28 of 28 occurrencesPermianEarly Triassic — about 0 of 28 occurrences260–260 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences260–259 Mya — about 1 occurrence259–259 Mya — about 1 occurrence259–259 Mya — about 1 occurrence259–259 Mya — about 1 occurrence259–258 Mya — about 1 occurrence258–258 Mya — about 1 occurrence258–258 Mya — about 1 occurrence258–257 Mya — about 1 occurrence257–257 Mya — about 1 occurrence257–257 Mya — about 1 occurrence257–256 Mya — about 1 occurrence256–256 Mya — about 1 occurrence256–256 Mya — about 1 occurrence256–256 Mya — about 1 occurrence256–255 Mya — about 1 occurrence255–255 Mya — about 1 occurrence255–255 Mya — about 1 occurrence255–254 Mya — about 1 occurrence254–254 Mya — about 1 occurrence254–254 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences254–253 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences253–253 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences253–253 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences253–253 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences253–252 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences252–252 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences252–252 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences260.4 Mya251.4 Mya

28 occurrences of Aulacephalodon on record, most of them in the Permian. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

28 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

3 formations

  • Balfour Formation · Beaufort GroupEastern Cape, Western Cape · ZA · 259.857–251.902 Mya4
  • Teekloof FormationEastern Cape · ZA · 259.857–254.14 Mya1
  • Middleton/Balfour Formation · Beaufort GroupEastern Cape · ZA · 259.857–254.14 Mya1
Balfour — 32.04°S, 24.22°EBalfour — 32.05°S, 24.29°EBalfour — 31.95°S, 23.77°ETeekloof — 31.62°S, 23.20°EMiddleton/Balfour — 32.25°S, 24.53°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Aulacephalodon has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 22 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Aulacephalodon and its relatives

Permian

Where Aulacephalodon and its relatives were recorded in the Permian.

Found in the same rock

19 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 3 sites for Aulacephalodon, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

9 references

Each of the 28 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Aulacephalodon

Credit
Jonathan Chen
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Photogrammetry

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Aulacephalodon bainii · amnh:farb:5564

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itGeikiinae through timeFormations of the PermianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Seeley 1898