Syops

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Syops is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsids, a group of mammal-like reptiles. It lived in the Late Permian, about 259–254 million years ago. The type species is Syops vanhoepeni, which was first named in 1938 as Dicynodon vanhoepeni.

Fossils of Syops have been found in Africa: in Tanzania’s Ruhuhu Basin (Usili Formation, Cistecephalus Assemblage Zone) and in Zambia’s Luangwa Basin (Upper Madumabisa Mudstone Formation).

Its exact place in the dicynodont family tree is unclear. Some studies suggest it was a basal geikiid or a rhachiocephalid, others propose it as a dicynodontoid more derived than the earliest forms but less than Lystrosauridae, or even as a lystrosaurid.

Classification (typical): Kingdom Animalia; Phylum Chordata; Clade Synapsida; Clade Therapsida; Clade Anomodontia; Clade Dicynodontia; Clade Bidentalia; Genus Syops; Type species S. vanhoepeni.