HOME | DD

SpinoInWonderland β€” Tapinocephalus atherstonei skeletal reconstruction

#paleo #permian #dinocephalia #dinocephalian #palaeozoic #tapinocephalus #tapinocephalid #atherstonei #tapinocephalusatherstonei #tapinocephaline #palaeo #reconstruction #skeletal #skeleton #synapsid #therapsid #synapsida #therapsida #skeletalreconstruction
Published: 2016-01-23 16:14:59 +0000 UTC; Views: 4641; Favourites: 75; Downloads: 26
Redirect to original
Description Tapinocephalus atherstonei ("Atherstone's humble head") is a species of tapinocephalian therapsid that lived in what is now South Africa during the Guadalupian epoch of the Permian.

This reconstruction is a composite of the holotype (vertebrae), SAM 2344 (skull) and SAM 3355 (scapula and humerus), and assumes that the three are similarly-sized specimens. This is also the first ever full-body skeletal reconstruction of T. atherstonei AFAIK.

Bones in light gray are those that are mentioned but not illustrated.

The ilium is based on the related tapinocephalid Phocosaurus, while the femur is based on the indeterminate tapinocephalid specimen SAM 9097, which could possibly be a Tapinocephalus. Moschops' proportions was used as a guide to scale the hips and hindlimbs.

The interclavicle is based on the indeterminate tapinocephalid specimen SAM 9153. The mandible is based on that of Mormosaurus. The rest of the skeleton is filled in based on Moschops.

AMNH 5611, the specimen composed of an arm and two shoulder girdles, which a photograph of can be found in Wikipedia, is excluded, as according to Boonstra(1955), it appears that AMNH 5611 isn't T. atherstonei but rather a titanosuchid.

Although popular internet sources would have you believe that Moschops was larger than Tapinocephalus, the reality is the opposite, it seems. T. atherstonei has larger bones than Moschops in every single instance any two same bones of the two taxa are compared. The skull of T. atherstonei is ~53 centimeters long. It was probably among the largest nonmammalian synapsids to ever walk the Earth.
_____

References/sources:
Owen, 1876, "Descriptive and illustrated catalogue of the fossil reptilia of South Africa in the collection of the British Museum"
L. D. Boonstra, 1955, "The girdles and limbs of the South African Dinocephalia"
L. D. Boonstra, 1956, "The skull of Tapinocephalus and it's near relatives"
Gregory, William, 1926, "The skeleton of Moschops capensis, a dinocephalian reptile from the Permian of South Africa"
_____

UPDATE(3/27/2017): Detailed the skull and fixed some issues with the caudals.
Related content
Comments: 14

IndoraptorOrionfan19 [2019-04-28 17:42:42 +0000 UTC]

Great workΒ Β . I really like your skeletal reconstructions. I shall add this to my favourites

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

Gullharr [2019-04-26 05:02:27 +0000 UTC]

How did this animal drink water with his neck so short?

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

SpinoInWonderland In reply to Gullharr [2019-04-26 12:50:08 +0000 UTC]

By lowering its front body...

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

Owlbaskingshark [2017-10-16 21:07:08 +0000 UTC]

Why does this beefy synapsid look tasty?

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

Paleo-reptiles [2017-06-25 17:26:07 +0000 UTC]

BeautifulΒ 

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

Dinopithecus [2017-03-28 01:30:46 +0000 UTC]

How massive was this thing? With that build, it could weigh quite a lot even if it was only some 3 meters long (going by the scale bar).

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

SpinoInWonderland In reply to Dinopithecus [2017-03-28 09:10:01 +0000 UTC]

I would guess that the quoted internet estimates of ~1.5-2 tonnes for it are actually looking pretty good, possibly even too small.

i.imgur.com/eYIkgu8.png

I'll need to do a graphic double integration to see of course, but I lack anything to use for a tapinocephalid top view.

It's about ~3.83 meters long in axial length by my measurement.

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

bh1324 [2017-03-27 11:28:34 +0000 UTC]

Quite ironic that animal common enough to have a biostratigraphic layer named after it in the formation it was found (the Tapinocephalus assemblage zone) is known from only quite fragmentary indivduals (unless other species in the genus are better known I suppose).

πŸ‘: 1 ⏩: 0

JonaGold2000 [2017-03-27 10:28:45 +0000 UTC]

Biggo

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

MerkavaDragunov [2017-03-27 03:59:57 +0000 UTC]

interesting
did it really have a beak like mouth? because from here it looks like a beak to me...

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

SpinoInWonderland In reply to MerkavaDragunov [2017-03-27 04:22:58 +0000 UTC]

Nah, it just has a domed head

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

TheArchosaurQueen [2016-01-24 19:37:31 +0000 UTC]

Very nice . I like your skeletals.

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

SpinoInWonderland In reply to TheArchosaurQueen [2016-01-26 05:38:53 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! Β 

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

TheArchosaurQueen In reply to SpinoInWonderland [2016-01-26 09:41:07 +0000 UTC]

You're most welcome ^-^.

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0