Patranomodon

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Patranomodon is an extinct, plant-eating member of the therapsids, a group of mammal-like reptiles. The name means “father of anomodonts.” It lived in what is now southern Africa during the Middle to Late Permian period.

Scientists Rubidge and Hopson named Patranomodon in 1990 after finding its skull. Most fossils come from the Karoo region of South Africa, especially the Eastern Cape, but bones have also been found in Europe, China, and India, suggesting these animals moved around as continents joined in the supercontinent Pangea.

Patranomodon had a relatively short face and small body. Its skull shows features that point to herbivory (plant-eating): the jaw muscles were split into two parts, and the jaw moved mainly in a forward-and-backward motion when feeding. The teeth were suited for crushing and grinding tougher plant material, and the arrangement of the palate and jaw joints helped it process vegetation.

The environment in Patranomodon’s time was part of the late Permian, with climates that could be warm and wet in some areas and drier in others. This period saw big changes in life, including mass extinctions, but some land animals like Patranomodon survived by evolving away from more carnivorous ancestors.

Fossils found in the Beaufort Group indicate Patranomodon lived in river and floodplain settings. There is also evidence that similar animals spread northward across southern Africa as climates shifted, helping show how ancient ecosystems and continents were connected.