Watongia

Watongia is an extinct genus of non-mammalian synapsids from Middle Permian of Oklahoma. Only one species has been described, Watongia meieri, from the Chickasha Formation.[1] It was assigned to family Gorgonopsidae by Olson[1] and to Eotitanosuchia by Carroll.[2] Reisz and collaborators assigned the genus in Varanopidae. Based on comparisons of its vertebrae with other varanopids, it was the largest varanopid with a body length of approximately 2 metres (6 ft 7 in).[3] It was a contemporary of its closest relative, the much smaller Varanodon; the two may possibly represent growth stages of a single animal.[4]

Watongia
Temporal range: Middle Permian
Restoration
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Family: †Varanopidae
Subfamily: †Varanopinae
Genus: †Watongia
Olson, 1974
Type species
†Watongia meieri
Olson, 1974

See also

References
  1. Olson, E.C. (1974). "On the Source of Therapsids". Annals of the South African Museum. 64: 27–46.
  2. Carroll, R.L. (1988). Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W. H Freeman Company.
  3. Reisz, R.R.; Laurin, M. (2004). "A reevaluation of the enigmatic Permian synapsid Watongia and of its stratigraphic significance". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 41 (4): 377–386. doi:10.1139/e04-016.
  4. Maddin, H.C.; Evans, D.C.; Reisz, R.R. (2006). "An Early Permian varanodontine varanopid (Synapsida: Eupelycosauria) from the Richards Spur locality, Oklahoma". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 26 (4): 957–966. JSTOR 4524646.


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