Clelandina

Clelandina is an extinct genus of rubidgeine gorgonopsian from the Late Permian of Cistecephalus Assemblage Zone of South Africa. It was first named by Broom in 1948. The type and only species is C. rubidgei. It is relatively rare, with only four known specimens.[1][2]

Clelandina Temporal range: Late Permian 259–254 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Holotype skull of C. rubidgei
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Therapsida
Family:	†Gorgonopsidae
Tribe:	†Rubidgeini
Genus:	†Clelandina Broom, 1948
Type species
Clelandina rubidgei Broom, 1948
Synonyms
Genus-level Tigrisaurus Broom & George, 1950 Dragocephalus Brink & Kitching, 1953 Species-level Clelandina major Broom, 1940 Tigrisaurus pricei Broom & George, 1950 Dracocephalus scheepersi Brink & Kitching, 1953 Dinogorgon (Dracocephalus) scheepersi Watson & Romer, 1956 Clelandina scheepersi Sigogneau, 1970 Dinogorgon pricei Sigogneau, 1970 Rubidgea pricei Gebauer, 2007

Restoration of C. rubidgei

Referred skull, the holotype of Tigrisaurus pricei

Description

Clelandina rubidgei has an extraordinarily small sclerotic ring relative to the size of its orbit, which implies that it was diurnal. It is the only rubidgeine with a preserved sclerotic ring, so it is unknown whether this trait was shared by other members of the subfamily. Like all rubidgeines, it was relatively large, with a skull up to 36 cm long. It had reduced dentition, with the teeth posterior to the canines being absent and replaced with a bony ridge. The skull has heavily pachyostosed, with massive rugose bosses.[1]

Classification

Clelandina shares many characteristics with Rubidgea and Dinogorgon, which has led some authors to synonymize them. All three are now considered to be part of the same tribe, Rubidgeini, rather than the same genus.

Below is a cladogram by Kammerer et al. in 2016.[1]

Rubidgeinae	Smilesaurus ferox       Aelurognathus tigriceps       Ruhuhucerberus haughtoni         Sycosaurus laticeps     Sycosaurus nowaki     Rubidgeini   Leontosaurus vanderhosti       Dinogorgon rubidgei       Rubidgea atrox     Clelandina rubidgei

See also

• List of therapsids

References

1. Kammerer, Christian F. (2016). "Systematics of the Rubidgeinae (Therapsida: Gorgonopsia)". PeerJ. 4: e1608. doi:10.7717/peerj.1608. PMC 4730894. PMID 26823998.
2. "Fossilworks: Clelandina".

Further reading

• paleodb.org
• www.paleofile.com Alphabetical list - C section.
• The Origin and Evolution of Mammals by Tom Kemp. Published 2005, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-850761-5