Kannemeyeria

Kannemeyeria Temporal range: Early Triassic PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
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Skull of Kannemeyeria erithrea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Synapsida
Order:	Therapsida
Infraorder:	†Dicynodontia
Family:	†Kannemeyeriidae
Genus:	†Kannemeyeria Seeley, 1908
Species
†K. simocephalus (Weithofer, 1888) (type) †K. lophorhinus Renaut, Damiani, Yates, and Hancox, 2003
Synonyms
Proplacerias Cruichshank, 1970 Ptychocynodon Seeley, 1904 Sagecephalus Jaekel, 1926

Kannemeyeria was a large dicynodont of the family Kannemeyeriidae, one of the first representatives of the family, and hence one of the first large herbivores of the Triassic. It lived during the later Early and early Middle part of the Triassic period (from the late Olenekian to the Middle Anisian age).

Description

File:Kannemeyeria DB.jpg

Kannemeyeria.

File:Kannemeyeria.jpg

K. simocephalus skull at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin

Kannemeyeria was about 3 m (10 ft) in length, about the size of an ox. It was well-adapted to living as a herbivore; it had a powerful beak and strong jaw muscles built for shearing plant material. Although it had a large head, it was lightweight due to the size of the eye sockets and nasal cavity. It also had limb girdles which formed massive plates of bone that helped support its heavily built body.

Distribution

Kannemeyeria is known from Namibia, South Africa, and Zambia.

See also

• List of synapsids