Procolophonidae is an extinct family of small, lizard-like parareptiles known from the Late Permian to Late Triassic that were distributed across Pangaea, having been reported from Europe, North America, China, South Africa, South America, Antarctica and Australia. The most primitive procolophonids were likely insectiovous or omnivorous, more derived members of the clade developed bicusped molars, and were likely herbivorous feeding on high fiber vegetation or durophagous omnivores. Many members of the group are noted for spines projecting from the quadratojugal bone of the skull, which likely served a defensive purpose as well as possibly also for display. At least some taxa were likely fossorial burrowers. While diverse during the Early and Middle Triassic, they had very low diversity during the Late Triassic, and were extinct by the beginning of the Jurassic.
Procolophon is a genus of lizard-like procolophonid parareptiles that first appeared in the Early Triassic (Induan) of South Africa, Brazil, and Antarctica. It persisted through the Permian–Triassic extinction event, but went extinct in the beginning of the Early Middle Triassic. The type species is P. trigoniceps.
Otsheria is an extinct genus of anomodont, in the infraorder venyukovioidea. It lived in modern-day Russia during the Permian.
Venyukovia is an extinct genus of venyukovioid therapsid, a basal anomodont from the Middle Permian of Russia. The type and sole species, V. prima, is known only by a partial lower jaw with teeth. Venyukovia has often been incorrectly spelt as 'Venjukovia' in English literature. This stems from a spelling error made by Russian palaeontologist Ivan Efremov in 1940, who mistakenly replaced the 'y' with a 'j', which subsequently permeated through therapsid literature before the mistake was caught and corrected. Venyukovia is the namesake for the Venyukovioidea, a group of small Russian basal anomodonts also including the closely related Otsheria, Suminia, Parasuminia and Ulemica, although it itself is also one of the poorest known. Like other venyukovioids, it had large projecting incisor-like teeth at the front and lacked canines, although the remaining teeth are simple compared to some other venyukovioids, but may resemble those of Otsheria.
Owenetta is an extinct genus of owenettid procolophonian parareptile. Fossils have been found from the Beaufort Group in the Karoo Basin of South Africa. Although most procolophonians lived during the Triassic, Owenetta existed during the Wuchiapingian and Changhsingian stages of the Late Permian as well as the early Induan stage of the Early Triassic. It is the type genus of the family Owenettidae, and can be distinguished from other related taxa in that the posterior portion of the supratemporal bears a lateral notch and that the pineal foramen is surrounded by a depressed parietal surface on the skull table.
Kitchingnathus is an extinct genus of basal procolophonid parareptile from Early Triassic deposits of Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. It is known from the holotype BP/1/1187, skull and partial postcranium, which was first assigned to the more derived Procolophon trigoniceps. It was collected by the South African palaeontologist, James W. Kitching in October 1952 from Hobbs Hill, west of Cathcart. It was found in the middle or upper part of the Katberg Formation of the Beaufort Group and referred to the uppermost Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone. It was first named by Juan Carlos Cisneros in 2008 and the type species is Kitchingnathus untabeni. The generic name honours James W. Kitching, and "gnathus", from Greek gnathos meaning mandible. The specific name meaning "from the hill", in isiZulu, is in reference to the locality where the fossil was found.
Sauropareion is an extinct genus of basal procolophonid parareptile from earliest Triassic deposits of Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. It is known from the holotype SAM PK-11192, skull and partial postcranium. It was collected by the late L. D. Boonstra in 1935 from Barendskraal in the Middelburg District and referred to the Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone of the Beaufort Group. It was first named by Sean P. Modesto, Hans-Dieter Sues and Ross J. Damiani in 2001 and the type species is Sauropareion anoplus. The generic name means "lizard", sauros, and "cheek", pareion from Greek in reference to the lizard-like appearance of the temporal region. The specific name comes from the Greek word anoplos, meaning "without arms or armour".
Theledectes is an extinct genus of theledectine procolophonid parareptile from middle Triassic deposits of Free State Province, South Africa.The type species, Theledectes perforatus, is based on the holotype BP/1/4585, a flattened skull. This skull was collected by the South African palaeontologist, James W. Kitching from Hugoskop in the Rouxville District and referred to subzone B of the Cynognathus Assemblage Zone of the Burgersdorp Formation, Beaufort Group. The genus was first named by Sean P. Modesto and Ross J. Damiani in 2003. However, the species was initially assigned to the genus Thelegnathus by C.E. Gow in 1977, as the species Thelegnathus perforatus.
Teratophon is an extinct genus of procolophonine procolophonid parareptile from middle Triassic deposits of Free State Province, South Africa. It is known from the holotype BP/1/4299, a nearly complete skull. It was collected by the South African palaeontologist, James W. Kitching from Hugoskop in the Rouxville District and referred to subzone B of the Cynognathus Assemblage Zone of the Burgersdorp Formation, Beaufort Group. It was first named by Sean P. Modesto and Ross J. Damiani in 2003 and the type species is Teratophon spinigenis. It was first assigned to a species of Thelegnathus, Thelegnathus spinigenis.
Thelephon is an extinct genus of procolophonine procolophonid parareptile from middle Triassic deposits of Free State Province, South Africa. It is known from the holotype BP/1/3512, a partial skull lacking the snout and anterior third of the mandible. It was collected by the South African palaeontologist, James W. Kitching from Hugoskop in the Winnaarsbaken and referred to subzone B of the Cynognathus Assemblage Zone of the Burgersdorp Formation, Beaufort Group. It was first named by Sean P. Modesto and Ross J. Damiani in 2003 and the type species is Thelephon contritus. It was first assigned to a species of Thelegnathus, Thelegnathus contritus.
Thelerpeton is an extinct genus of procolophonine procolophonid parareptile from middle Triassic deposits of Free State Province, South Africa. It is known from the holotype BP/1/4538, a nearly complete skull. It was collected by the South African palaeontologist, James W. Kitching from Hugoskop in the Rouxville District and referred to subzone B of the Cynognathus Assemblage Zone of the Burgersdorp Formation, Beaufort Group. It was first named by Sean P. Modesto and Ross J. Damiani in 2003 and the type species is Thelerpeton oppressus. It was first assigned to a species of Thelegnathus, Thelegnathus oppressus.
Eumetabolodon is an extinct genus of procolophonine procolophonid parareptile from early and middle Triassic deposits of Nei Mongol, northern China. Two species of Eumetabolodon were named by J. L. Li in 1983 and the type species is Eumetabolodon bathycephalus.
Timanophon is an extinct genus of procolophonine procolophonid parareptile from early Triassic deposits of Arkhangelsk, Russia. It is known from the holotype PIN 3359/11, a partial skeleton including nearly complete skull and lower jaw which was previously referred to Burtensia sp. by Ivakhnenko in 1975. It was collected in the Mezenskaya Pizhma and Lower Syamzhen'ga localities from the Pizhmomezenskoi Formation. Ten additional specimens from the same localities are PIN 3359/1-3, 3359/63-65 and 4364/35-38. The fragmentary dentaries PIN 3360/1-3 were collected in the Vybor River locality, from the same formation. All specimens came from the Ustmylian Gorizont, dating to the early Olenekian faunal stage of the Early Triassic, about 249-247 million years ago. It was first named by I. V. Novikov in 1991 and the type species is Timanophon raridentatus.
Anomoiodon is an extinct genus of procolophonine procolophonid parareptile from early Triassic deposits of Thuringia, Germany. It is known only from the holotype MB.R.3539B and paratype MB.R.3539A, two articulated, three-dimensionally preserved partial skeletons on one block which represent two individuals. The holotype includes nearly complete skull and lower jaw. The block was collected from the lowest layer of the Chirotherium Sandstone Member of the Solling Formation, dating to the early Olenekian faunal stage of the Early Triassic, about 249-247 million years ago. It was first named by Friedrich von Huene in 1939 and the type species is Anomoiodon liliensterni. Laura K. Säilä, who redescribed Anomoiodon in 2008, found it to be a leptopleuronine using a phylogenetic analysis. The most recent analysis, performed by Ruta et al. (2011) found it to be a procolophonine instead. However, both analyses found that it is most closely related to the Russian procolophonid Kapes.
Procolophoninae is an extinct subfamily of procolophonid parareptiles from the late Early Triassic to the early Middle Triassic of Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Europe and South America. Currently, the oldest-known procolophonine is Procolophon from the earliest Olenekian stage.
Leptopleuroninae is an extinct subfamily of procolophonid reptiles. The oldest member of Leptopleuroninae is Phonodus dutoitorum from the Induan age of the Early Triassic. It is the only procolophonid group that survived into the Late Triassic.
Kapes is an extinct genus of procolophonid parareptile from the Lower and Middle Triassic of the United Kingdom and Russia. It is a member of the subfamily Procolophoninae. The type species K. amaenus was named in 1975 from the banks of the Vychegda River in the Komi Republic of Russia. In 1983, a new species was brought into the genus, K. majmesculae. K. majmesculae was first named in 1968 as a member of the genus Tichvinskia. A third Russian species, K. serotinus, was named in 1991. In 2002, Kapes bentoni was named from the Middle Triassic Otter Sandstone Formation of Devon, England, extending the geographic range of Kapes. In the same paper, K. serotinus was synonymized with K. majmesculae and another Russian species was assigned to Kapes called K. komiensis. K. komiensis was first named in 1975 as a member of the genus Macrophon.
Coelodontognathus is an extinct genus of reptile from the Early Triassic of European Russia. It was originally described as a procolophonid parareptile in 1967 but was reclassified as a possible trilophosaurid archosauromorph in 2008. The genus includes two species: the type species C. donensis and C. ricovi. C. donensis is known from the holotype PIN 4173/129 and the referred PIN 4173/130, and C. ricovi is known from the holotype PIN 4173/127 and the referred PIN 4173/128, all of which represent dentaries that are housed at the Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences. Another dentary, SGU 104/3105, originally referred to C. donensis was reassigned to its own genus and species Vitalia grata by Ivakhnenko, 1973. The fossils have been found at the Donskaya Luka Locality near the village of Sirotinskaya and the Don River in Ilovlinsky District, Volgograd Oblast, from the Lipovskaya Formation of the Gamskii Horizon. Like Coelodontognathus, Vitalia which is known from the same locality was also first identified as a procolophonid and later reclassified as a trilophosaurid. Coelodontognathus and Vitalia are similar to procolophonids in that they have wide teeth but differs from them in that they have tooth roots set deep into the jaws.
Saurodektes is an extinct genus of owenettid procolophonoid parareptile known from the earliest Triassic deposits of Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. It was first named by Sean P. Modesto, Ross J. Damiani, Johann Neveling and Adam M. Yates in 2003 and the type species is Saurodectes rogersorum. The generic name Saurodectes was preoccupied by the generic name of Saurodectes vrsanskyi Rasnitsyn & Zherikhin, 2000, a fossil chewing lice known from the Early Cretaceous of Russia. Thus, an alternative generic name, Saurodektes, was proposed by Modesto et al. in 2004. The generic name means "lizard", sauros, and "biter", dektes from Greek. The specific name, rogersorum, honors Richard and Jenny Rogers, owners of the farm Barendskraal, for their hospitality, support and interest in the work of the paleontologists who recovered the holotype. Saurodektes is known solely from the holotype BP/1/6025, a partial skull and some fragmentary partial postcranial elements, housed at the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, although the unprepared specimens BP/1/6044, BP/1/6045 and BP/1/6047 might also be referable to it. All specimens were collected on the slopes of the Manhaar Hill at Barendskraal in the Middelburg District, from the Palingkloof Member of the Balfour Formation, Beaufort Group, only 12 metres below the base of the Katberg Formation. This horizon belongs to the Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone, dating to the early Induan stage of the Early Triassic period.
Vitalia is an extinct genus of reptile from the Early Triassic of European Russia known from the type species V. grata. It is known from the holotype dentary PIN 4173/126 as well as two additional dentaries PIN 1043/627 and 1043/628, all housed at the Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences. The type dentary was originally included in the hypodigm of Coelodontognathus donensis named by the notable Russian vertebrate paleontologist Vitaliy Georgiyevich Ochev in 1967. Ivakhnenko (1973) separated the specimen and gave it its own genus and species name in light of the new material, which he named in honor of Ochev. The dentaries of Vitalia were collected at the Donskaya Luka Locality near the village of Sirotinskaya in Ilovlinsky District, Volgograd Oblast, from the Lipovskaya Formation of the Gamskii Horizon. Like Coelodontognathus, Vitalia was originally described as a procolophonid parareptile in 1973, but Arkhangelskii & Sennikov (2008) reclassified the taxon as a possible trilophosaurid archosauromorph. Vitalia is thought to be similar to the possible trilophosaurids Coelodontognathus and Doniceps, both of which are known exclusively from the same locality. Coelodontognathus and Vitalia are similar to procolophonids in that they have wide teeth but differs from them in that they have tooth roots set deep into the jaws.
