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CISTECEPHALUS
(sis-tee-sef-a-lus)
meaning: "Box head"
Cistecephalus
Named By: Richard Owen in 1876
Time Period: Wuchiapingian, 259.8-254.1 Ma
Location: India. South Africa. Zambia
Size: 33 centimetres long
Diet: Invertebrates
Fossil(s): Many specimens
Classification: | Chordata | Synapsida | Therapsida | Anomodontia | Dicynodontia |
About

Cistecephalus is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsid from the Late Permian of southern Africa (South Africa and Zambia). It was a small, specialised, burrowing dicynodont, possibly with habits similar to a modern mole. The head was flattened and wedge-shaped, the body long, and the forelimbs very strong, with similarities in structure to the forelimb of modern burrowing mammals.

It was one of the first genera of dicynodonts to be described, by Richard Owen, in 1876.

Cistecephalus could reach up to 60 centimetres (24 in) in length.

Read more about Cistecephalus at Wikipedia
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