Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
218 / Paleozoic
Diictodon
Diictodon feliceps
A beak, short tusks and powerful forelimbs made this one of the most common burrowing herbivores of the Late Permian.
View original image · 1536 × 1024- Time range
- About 259–252 million years ago
- Final stage
- End of the Permian
- Geographic range
- Semi-arid floodplains · Present-day South Africa and China
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Diictodon?
Diictodon (Diictodon feliceps) was an extinct organism known from About 259–252 million years ago, with a range in Semi-arid floodplains · Present-day South Africa and China.
Life and ecology
Dog-sized Diictodon cropped plants with a horny beak. Skeletons associated with spiral burrows show that it excavated shelter from heat, drought and predators.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Diictodon disappear?
Extreme warming, aridity and vegetation collapse during the end-Permian mass extinction are the likely setting of its disappearance; a species-level cause is not established.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Diictodon?
Thousands of skulls and skeletons show variation in tusks; occupied burrow casts provide direct behavioral evidence.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Rewrote an extinction cause that presented environmental or faunal turnover as established; it is now given as context the record does not prove.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS