Sphenosaurus
Name:
Sphenosaurus.
Phonetic: Sfen-o-sore-us.
Named By: Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer -
1847.
Synonyms: Palaeosaurus sternbergii
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Procolophonomorpha, Procolophonidae.
Species: S. sternbergii
(type).
Diet: Uncertain, refer to main text.
Size: Unavailable.
Known locations: Europe.
Time period: Permian.
Fossil representation: At least one individual.
Originally named as of Palaeosaurus sternbergii by Leopold Joseph Fitzinger in 1840, the fossils was used to establish the Sphenosaurus genus by Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer in 1847 upon the grounds that the genus name Palaeosaurus had already been used to name another animal. Sphenosaurus was a procolophonid reptile (those similar to the type genus Procolophon), a type noted for having a squat body and often large horns on the head. Early members of the group seem to have been insectivorous, whereas later members show a shift in dentition form indicating a herbivorous diet.
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