| Bradysaurus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Bradysaurus baini | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | †Procolophonomorpha |
| Family: | †Pareiasauridae |
| Genus: | †Bradysaurus Watson, 1914 |
| Type species | |
| †Bradysaurus baini Seeley, 1892 | |
Bradysaurus was a species of pareiasaurid that lived in the Middle Permian, the fossils of which are known from the rich Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone (Capitanian age) of the South African Karoo.
Description[]
Bradysaurus was large, with a length of 2.5 to 3 meters long (8 to 10 ft). The skull was large (about 42 to 48 centimeters long [17 to 19 in]), broad and rounded at the front. It was coarsely sculptured and knobby, with the sutures between the bones not clearly visible. The whole body is protected by dermal scutes, although these are not as thick or heavy as in more advanced forms.
Classification[]
Bradysaurus is the only member of the subfamily Bradysaurinae. It is the most primitive known pareiasaur and can be considered a good ancestral type from which the others developed. Its large dimensions show that, even very early in their evolutionary history, these strange animals had already attained an optimal size. Even later, more advanced forms, like Scutosaurus, were no larger. The advantage of large size was to provide defense against predators and to maintain a stable body temperature (gigantothermy).
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