Extinct genus of large therapsids from the Late Permian in East Russia
Megawhaitsia
Temporal range: Wuchiapingian
PreꞒ
Ꞓ
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Illustration of the holotype maxilla showing possible venom ducts
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Clade:
Synapsida
Clade:
Therapsida
Clade:
†Therocephalia
Family:
†Whaitsiidae
Genus:
†Megawhaitsia Ivakhnenko, 2008
Type species
†Megawhaitsia patrichae
Ivakhnenko, 2008
Megawhaitsia is an extinct genus of large therocephalian therapsids who lived during the Late Permian (Wuchiapingian) in what is now Eastern Europe. The only known species is M. patrichae, described in 2008 from several fossils discovered in various oblasts of European Russia. The fossils are representative of a large animal whose skull size is estimated to be 40–50 cm (16–20 in) long.
The most notable feature of Megawhaitsia is that it has a maxilla with canals directly connected to the tooth root of the canines. Based on the characteristics present in the related genus Euchambersia, Russian paleontologist Mikhail Ivakhnenko raises the possibility that the animal may have had a venom gland. If it is true, then it would then be one of the oldest tetrapods known to have this attribute. Subsequent studies have challenged this proposition.
The imposing size of Megawhaitsia and its position as an apex predator could be linked to the disappearance or absence of large gorgonopsians at the end of the Late Permian in certain regions of present-day European Russia. Megawhaitsia could thus have occupied the ecological niches previously occupied by the gorgonopsians.
Megawhaitsia is an extinct genus of large therocephalian therapsids who lived during the Late Permian (Wuchiapingian) in what is now Eastern Europe. The...
therocephalian in 1997, and later designated as the holotype of the genus Megawhaitsia in 2008. Inostrancevia is a gorgonopsian with a fairly robust morphology...
range: Changhsingian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ Life restoration of Megawhaitsia vjuschkovi Scientific classification Domain: Eukaryota Kingdom: Animalia...
various other prehistoric animals, including the related therocephalians Megawhaitsia and Ichibengops. Much of this acceptance has been based on the erroneous...
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