Titanosuchidae
| Titanosuchidae Temporal range: Middle Permian,
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| Life restoration of Titanosuchus ferox | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Synapsida |
| Clade: | Therapsida |
| Suborder: | †Dinocephalia |
| Clade: | †Titanosuchia Broom |
| Family: | †Titanosuchidae Broom, 1903[1] |
| Genera | |
Titanosuchidae is an extinct family of dinocephalians known only from the middle Permian Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone of South Africa.[2]
The titanosuchids were large, omnivorous[3] or herbivorous[2] animals. As with other tapinocephalians, they had thickened skulls that may have been used in head-butting, but to a lesser degree than in Tapinocephalidae or Anteosauridae. They had large canine teeth, strong incisors with a "talon and heel" morphology, and leaf-shaped postcanine teeth. Two titanosuchid genera are recognized as valid: Jonkeria and Titanosuchus; they can be distinguished on the basis of limb proportions.[2]
References
- ^ Broom, Robert (1903). "On the classification of theriodonts and their allies". Report of the South African Association for the Advancement of Science. 1: 286–295.
- ^ a b c Jirah, Sifelani; Rubidge, Bruce S.; Abdala, Fernando (11 June 2024). "Cranial morphology of Jonkeria truculenta (Therapsida, Dinocephalia) and a taxonomic reassessment of the family Titanosuchidae". Palaeontologia africana. 58: 1–27. ISSN 2410-4418.
- ^ Bhat, Mohd Shafi; Shelton, Christen D.; Chinsamy, Anusuya (15 October 2021). "Bone histology of the graviportal dinocephalian therapsid Jonkeria from the middle Permian Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone of the Karoo Basin of South Africa" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 66 (4): 705–721. doi:10.4202/app.00872.2021.