4.9 Labidosaurus sp.

This is the skull of an early amniote from the Late Permian of North America. Labidosaurus is a captorhinid, a group of small to medium sized amniotes that probably fed on invertebrates and other small vertebrates.

Note that there are no openings in the temporal region (the area immediately behind the eye on the side of the skull). Can you detect the transverse flange of the pterygoid which is characteristic of amniotes (look at the palate of the animal and see if you can detect paired downwardly projecting ridges at the back end of the palate).

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