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SAUROPAREION
(sore-op-ar-e-on)
meaning: "lizard cheek"
Sauropareion
Named By: Sean P. Modesto, HansinDieter Sues & Ross J. Damiani in 2001
Time Period: Early Triassic, Induan
Location: South Africa
Size: About 30 centimetres long
Diet: Insectivore
Fossil(s): At least two individuals including skulls and almost complete postcranial remains
Classification: | Chordata | Reptilia | Procolophonomorpha | Procolophonidae |
About

Sauropareion (meaning "lizard cheek") is an extinct genus of basal procolophonid parareptile from earliest Triassic (early Induan stage) deposits of Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. It is known from the holotype SAM PK-11192, skull and partial postcranium. It was collected by the late L. D. Boonstra in 1935 from Barendskraal in the Middelburg District and referred to the Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone of the Beaufort Group (Karoo Basin). It was first named by Sean P. Modesto, Hans-Dieter Sues and Ross J. Damiani in 2001 and the type species is Sauropareion anoplus. The generic name means "lizard", sauros, and "cheek", pareion from Greek in reference to the lizard-like appearance of the temporal region. The specific name comes from the Greek word anoplos, meaning "without arms or armour".

Read more about Sauropareion at Wikipedia
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