Moschops

Moschops is an extinct genus of dinocephalian therapsids that lived in what is now South Africa during the Capitanian stage of the Middle Permian around 264.4–260 million years ago. Fossils have been found in the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone of the Abrahamskraal Formation. Like other members of Tapinocephalidae, they were heavily built herbivores reaching a body mass of at least 400 kilograms (880 lb), and it has been debated whether or not they were semi-aquatic, like hippopotamuses. They had short, thick heads and are widely thought to have engaged in head-butting contests against rival individuals of the same species.

Moschops

William King Gregory, American Museum of Natural History · Public Domain · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
MoschopinaePBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Amniota

Time the record covers

At most 11 million years on record.

Every occurrence read is dated to somewhere between 264.28 Mya and 254.14 Mya, and nothing in the dating separates them, so that window is what the record shows rather than a span.

Permian — about 8 of 8 occurrencesPermian264–264 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences264–264 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences264–263 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences263–263 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences263–263 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences263–262 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences262–262 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences262–261 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences261–261 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences261–261 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences261–260 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences260–260 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences260–260 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences260–259 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences259–259 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences259–258 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences258–258 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences258–258 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences258–257 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences257–257 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences257–257 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences257–256 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences256–256 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences256–255 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences255–255 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences255–255 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences255–254 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences254–254 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences264.8 Mya253.6 Mya

8 occurrences of Moschops on record, most of them in the Permian. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

8 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

1 formation

Abrahamskraal — 32.49°S, 21.98°EAbrahamskraal — 32.37°S, 22.00°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Moschops has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 6 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Moschops and its relatives

Permian

Where Moschops and its relatives were recorded in the Permian.

Found in the same rock

25 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 4 sites for Moschops, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

3 references

Each of the 8 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Each entry links to the Paleobiology Database's own record for the work.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Moschops

Credit
William King Gregory, American Museum of Natural History
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Photogrammetry

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Pelanomodon moschops · amnh:farb:5325

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Credit
PeePmono
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itMoschopinae through timeFormations of the PermianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Broom 1911