Varanosaurus

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = Early Permian, {{fossil_range|290|273}}

| image = Varanosaurus NT small.jpg

| image_upright = 1.15

| image_caption = A reconstruction of Varanosaurus acutirostris

| taxon = Varanosaurus

| authority = Broili, 1904

| type_species = {{extinct}}Varanosaurus acutirostris

| type_species_authority = Broili, 1904

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision_ref = {{cite web|title=Varanosaurus|url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=38933|website=Fossilworks|access-date=17 December 2021}}

| subdivision =

{{extinct}}V. acutirostris Broili 1904 (type)
{{extinct}}V. wichitaensis Romer 1937

}}

Varanosaurus ('monitor lizard') is an extinct genus of early ophiacodontid synapsid that lived during the ArtinskianA. S. Romer. 1937. New genera and species of pelycosaurian reptiles. Proceedings of the New England Zoölogical Club 16:89-95 and Kungurian ages of the Permian.R. R. Reisz. 1986. Pelycosauria. Handbuch der Paläoherpetologie / Encyclopedia of Paleoherpetology 17A:1-102

Description

Image:Dimetr incis22DB.jpg]]

As its name implies, Varanosaurus may have looked superficially similar to present-day monitor lizards{{citation needed|date=December 2013}}, though not related at all.

Varanosaurus had a flattened, elongated skull and a pointed snout with a row of sharp teeth, including two pairs of conspicuous pseudocanines, implying that it was an active predator.{{cite book |editor=Palmer, D.|year=1999 |title= The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals|publisher= Marshall Editions|location=London|page= 187|isbn= 978-1-84028-152-1}}

Varanosaurus probably lived in swamps, competing with the larger Ophiacodon for food.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}}

Classification

Below is a cladogram modified from the analysis of Benson (2012):{{cite journal |last=Benson |first=R.J. |year=2012 |title=Interrelationships of basal synapsids: cranial and postcranial morphological partitions suggest different topologies |journal=Journal of Systematic Palaeontology |volume=10 |doi=10.1080/14772019.2011.631042 |issue=4 |pages=601–624|s2cid=84706899 }}

{{clade| style=font-size:85%;line-height:100%

|1={{clade

|1=Tseajaia campi

|2=Limnoscelis paludis

|label3=Amniota

|3={{clade

|1={{clade

|1=Captorhinus spp.

|2=Protorothyris archeri}}

|label2=Synapsida

|2={{clade

|1={{clade