Pristerodon
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Pristerodon Temporal range: Late Permian |
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| Skull at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Order: | Therapsida |
| Infraorder: | †Dicynodontia |
| Family: | †Eumantellidae |
| Genus: |
†Pristerodon Huxley, 1868 |
| Type species | |
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†Pristerodon mackayi Huxley, 1868 |
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| Synonyms | |
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Pristerodon is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsid.
Pristerodon were among the earliest land animals able to hear airborne sound as opposed to hearing via ground vibrations. A South African specimen studied with neutron tomography has shown evidence of an eardrum on its lower jaw with the implication that it was hearing impaired during the act of chewing. The specimen had a 3mm cavity for cochlea which transformed sound frequency ranges into nerve impulses sent on to the brain.
Pristerodon were herbivores living on flood plains.
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Wikipedia