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PELANOMODON
(pel-an-o-mo-don)
Pelanomodon
Named By: Robert Broom in 1938
Time Period: Late Permian, 259-252 Ma
Location: South Africa - Cistecephalus Assemblage other zone
Size: Unavailable
Diet: Herbivore
Fossil(s): Partial remains of a few individuals
Classification: | Chordata | Synapsida | Therapsida | Dicynodontia |
Also known as: | Dicynodon moschops |
About

Pelanomodon is an extinct, genus of Dicynodont therapsids that lived in the Late Permian period. Fossil evidence of this genus is principally found in the Karoo Basin of South Africa, in the Dicynodon Assemblage Zone. Lack of fossil record after the Late Permian era suggests that Pelanomodon fell victim to the Permian-Triassic extinction event.

The name Pelanomodon can be broken up into three parts; "pelos" meaning mud, "anomo" meaning irregular and "odon" meaning tooth. Together, this suggests Pelanomodon to be a mud dwelling anomodont (a group of theraspids that are characterized by their lack of teeth). The Karoo Basin during this period was characterized by its extensive flood plains, so to hypothesize a mud based habitat for this genus is not far fetched.

Pelanomodon is in the Geikiidae family along with Aulacephalodon and Geikia. Aulacephalodon is believed to have lived alongside Pelanomodon in the Karoo Basin, where as records of Geikia have been discovered in Scotland and Tanzania. Pelanomodon is primarily characterized and distinguished from Aulacephalodon by its lack of tusks. Other crananial features have been used by paleontologists to establish two species of Pelanomodon; P. moschops and P. rubidgei. However, recent analysis points to the conclusion that these may in fact the same species.

Read more about Pelanomodon at Wikipedia
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