Page 149 - Prehistoric Animals

Var-An-O-Sorus

Varanosaurus

Varanosaurus (monitor (Varan) lizard) is an extinct ge-
nus of early pelycosaurs synapsid* that lived during the Early
Permian 273 million years ago. It measured around 1 to 2 me-
tres in length. It was named, Varanosaurus, by F. Broili in
1904, because it looked a lot like the monitor lizard.

Varanosaurus had a long flattened skull with a pointed
snout. Its jaws were lined with rows of sharp teeth, including
two longer teeth at the front of its lower and upper jaws. Its
teeth suggest it was an active predator, and probably struck
fear into smaller animals, but it was not in the predatory upper
echelons, and would have been prey to other larger predators.
Although its habitat is unknown, it is known this type of verte-
brate is likely to be found in swampy wetlands and there’s
nothing to suggest Varanosaurus was any different from like
vertebrates

Varanosaurus was a member of the genus Pelycosaur
that contained several genera or groups believed to have had
direct ancestral links with the mammals. Although most of
these groups, were of the same or similar in size to Vara-
nosaurus, some could reach lengths of nearly 3 metres. Other
groups contain species that had large sail like structures pro-
truding from their backs. Pelycosaurs are believed to have
roamed Europe and North America for over 40 million years,
some have even been found in Russia and South Africa. They
are thought to have disappeared around the late Kungurian
and were replaced by therapsids**. Therapsids soon became
the dominant large land animals in the Guadalupian through to
the Early Triassic.
*Synapsid/ Reptiles having a single pair of lateral temporal openings in
the skull
** Warm-blooded; considered the direct ancestor of mammals