Lystrosaurus (L. curvatus, `Shovel Lizard´) is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsid from the Upper Permian where it lived its heyday and the Lower Triassic where it survived but did not thrive after the Permian mass extinction.
It was one of the most abundant and widely distributed animals of its time, and has been found in many parts of the world, including Africa, Asia, Antarctica, and South America.
Unlike other therapsids, dicynodonts had very short snouts and lacked teeth except for their pair of tusk-like upper caniniforms. It is generally thought that dicynodonts had horny beaks like those of turtles in order to cut pieces of vegetation, which were then crushed into a horny secondary palate when the mouth was closed. Lystrosaurus was a robust, herbivorous, browsing, medium-sized animal; hovering between 0.6 to 2.5 meters in length depending on the species.
Lystrosaurus is believed to have been a shallow-water amphibian due to the elevated position of the nostrils on the skull, but another interpretation suggests that it may have lived in dry floodplains and not in wetlands.
From the known data Lystrosaurus would not have had the ability to swim.
The Model Pose represents a Lystrosaurus curvatus specimen resting on a rock.
Approximate measurements of the replica:
Scale 1:20 - 53 x 50 x 70 mm H
