In Depth
Lophorhinus was a burnetiamorph biarmosuchian therapsid that lived in South Africa during the late Permian. As a burnetiamorph Lophorhinus was closer in form to the genus Burnetia than to Biarmosuchus. Other genera that Lophorhinus seems to be closely related to include Lobalopex and Pachydectes.
Lophorhinus had enlargeds canine teeth that were likely the main killing weapons available to Lophorhinus. The most distinctive features of the skull of Lophorhinus are the enlarged crests that rose up into points above and behind the eye sockets, as well as a smaller ridge-like crest that rises up from the snout between the nasals and eye sockets.
Further Reading
- A Second Burnetiamorph Therapsid from the Permian Teekloof Formation of South Africa and its Associated Fauna. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27(2):420-430. - C. A. Sidor & R. M. H. Smith - 2007.
