Haptodus

Haptodus Temporal range: ?Late Carboniferous - Early Permian, 299–296.4 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Restoration of H. garnettensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Sphenacodontia
Genus:	†Haptodus Gaudry, 1886
Species
†H. baylei Gaudry, 1886 (type) ?†H. garnettensis Currie, 1977 ?†H. grandis Paton, 1974

Haptodus is an extinct genus of basal sphenacodont, a clade that includes therapsids and hence, mammals. It was at least 1.5 metres (5 ft) in length. It lived from Latest Carboniferous to Early Permian. It was a medium-sized predator, feeding on insects and small vertebrates. H. garnettensis is currently the basalmost sphenacodontian.

Haptodus baylei, the type species of Haptodus, is known only from a single, badly preserved specimen hosted in the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle of Paris. It was collected at Les Télots, near Autun of France, from a terrestrial horizon dating to the Asselian stage of the Cisuralian series, about 299-296.4 million years old.

H. grandis is known only from Gz 1071, a partial left maxilla, which is hosted at the Warwick County Museum. It was collected at Kenilworth of Warwickshire, England, from the Kenilworth Sandstone Formation (Warwickshire Group), dating to the earliest Asselian stage of the Cisuralian series, about 299 million years old.