Protuberum

{{short description|Extinct genus of cynodonts}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Middle Triassic}}

| taxon = Protuberum

| authority = Reichel et al., 2009

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision =

• P. cabralense Reichel et al., 2009 (type)

}}

Protuberum is an extinct genus of traversodontid cynodonts known from a single species Protuberum cabralense,The specific name cabralense is "necessarily emended from the original P. cabralensis because Protuberum is a neuter generic name". {{cite book|last=Kammerer |first=Christian F. |chapter=Chapter 10. Theriodonta: Introduction |title=Early Evolutionary History of the Synapsida |doi=10.1007/978-94-007-6841-3_10 |editor1=Christian F. Kammerer|editor2=Kenneth D. Angielczyk|editor3=Jörg Fröbisch |publisher= Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht |year=2014 |page= 167}} from the Middle Triassic of Brazil.{{aut|Reichel, Míriam}}, {{aut|Schultz , Cesar Leandro}}, & {{aut|Soares , Marina Bento}} 2009 “A New Traversodontid Cynodont (Therapsida, Eucynodontia) from the Middle Triassic Santa Maria Formation of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil” Palaeontology 52(1):229-250

As with all genera of the family Traversodontidae, Protuberum was a herbivore, with a specialized grinding action when feeding. The two known specimens were collected a number of years apart from sediments of the Alemoa Member of the Santa Maria Formation in Geopark of Paleorrota, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The first specimen was collected in 1977 and consists of several ribs and vertebrae. The second specimen, collected in 1989, consists of a partial articulated skeleton and a skull. Both specimens were collected by Father Daniel Cargnin. The genus name is in reference to the large amount of protuberances on the ribs and ilia, while the species name is in honor of the Municipality of Novo Cabrais, where the type specimen was collected.