Athena Review Image Archive ™
Estemmenosuchus uralensis skull
Skull of Estemmenosuchus uralensis (after Tchudinov, 1960).
Estemmenosuchus
("crowned crocodile") were large, omnivorous therapsids who lived
during the Middle Permian period, at about 267 mya. It belonged to
the Therapsid clade, the Dinocephalia suborder, and the
Estemmenosuchidae family. The two known species, E. uralensis and E. mirabilis,
were found in 1960 in the Ocher Assemblage Zone of the Belebei
Formation, at Ezhovo near Ochyor in the Perm or
Cis-Urals region of Russia. Each had unique horn-like structures,
possibly used for display. There were many complete and incomplete
skeletons found together in channel flood deposits of the young
Ural Mountains. Associated fossil taxa include the Biarmosuchians Eotitanosuchus olsoni and Biarmosuchus tener.
Estemmenosuchus had a body length sometimes more than 3 m (10 ft). Its skull was long
and massive, up to 65 cm (26 in) in length, and possessed several sets
of large horns growing upward and outward from the sides and top of the
head, somewhat similar to moose antlers. Analysis of its shoulder
joints show Estemmenosuchus probably had a sprawling posture.
References:
Tchudinov, 1960
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