purplecat | Dinosaur of the Month: Anteosaurus (Reply)

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Artist's impression of an Anteosaurus

The Anteosaurus is a large carnivorous Therapsid from the middle Permian in South Africa. Therapsids (a kind of synapsid which is the family to which mammals belong) were hugely successful in the middle Permian and were among the largest animals of their time. Anteosaurus were comparable in size to Polar Bears and an early example of a really large terrestial predator.

Anteosaurs had large incisors and canines but only small teeth behind the canines. Although big, they had short limbs, so they probably weren't that fast and may have been semi-acquatic, lurking in water, like crocodiles to grab their prey. They have thickened skulls, suggested as an adaptation for head-butting.

Image showing the size of an Anteosuarus compared to a person. It comes up to the person's shoulder and is about two and half times long as the person is tall.