| Named By: | Robert Broom in 1920 |
| Time Period: | Late Permian-Early Triassic |
| Location: | South Africa - Katberg Formation, Normandien Formation |
| Size: | Skull size for specimens in the Permian up to about 20.7 centimetres. Skull size of specimens in the early Triassic up to about 17.9 centimetres long |
| Diet: | Carnivore |
| Fossil(s): | Partial remains of a few individuals |
| Classification: | | Chordata | Synapsida | Therapsida | Therocephalia | Akidnognathidae | |
Moschorhinus is an extinct genus of therocephalian of the Akidnognathidea family. It was a carnivorous quadruped predator and lived primarily in the Permian period. Described by South African paleontologist Robert Broom in 1920, its name is derived from the Ancient Greek words moskhos (mos'-khos) moschos for calf and rhino- for nose, referring to the broad, blunt shape of the snout.
Its short strong skull bore long straight canines and was up to lion-sized. It resembled the gorgonopsids, whose predatory role it appears to have replaced.
While most abundant in the late Permian, remains of Moschorhinus kitchingi have also been found in the earliest Triassic beds in the Karoo basin, showing that Moschorhinus did survive the Permian-Triassic extinction event, but disappeared soon afterwards. Although smaller than their Permian predecessors, Triassic Moschorhinus were the largest therocephalian predators of their time. An examination of the change in size between Moschorhinus fossils from before and after the mass extinction at the end of the Permian provides an excellent study of the Lilliput effects observable in species known to have survived an environmental catastrophe such as an extinction event.