Saurorictus is an extinct genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of Late Permian captorinid

Captorhinidae

Captorhinidae is one of the earliest and most basal reptile families.-Description:...

 known from Western Cape Province of South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

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Description

Saurorictus is known from the holotype

Holotype

A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...

 SAM PK-8666, three-dimensionally preserved nearly complete skull

Skull

The skull is a bony structure in the head of many animals that supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.The skull is composed of two parts: the cranium and the mandible. A skull without a mandible is only a cranium. Animals that have skulls are called craniates...

 and few postcrania

Postcrania

Postcrania[p] in zoology and vertebrate paleontology refers to all or part of the skeleton apart from the skull. Frequently, fossil remains, e.g...

l fragments. The skull has a length of 22 millimeters, thus Saurorictus has been estimated to have been about 15 cm (5.9 in) in length. This specimen represents one of the most complete captorhinid from the Late Permian.

It was collected from the Hoedemaker Member, Teeklof Formation of the lower Beaufort Group

Beaufort Group

The Beaufort Group is the third of the main subdivisions of the Karoo Supergroup of geological strata in Southern Africa. It follows conformably after the Ecca Group and consists essentially of sandstones and shales, deposited in the Karoo Basin from the Middle Permian to the early part of the...

, dating to the early-middle Wuchiapingian

Wuchiapingian

In the geologic timescale, the Wuchiapingian or Wujiapingian is an age or stage of the Permian. It is also the lower or earlier of two subdivisions of the Lopingian epoch or series. The Wuchiapingian spans the time between 260.4 ± 0.7 and 253.8 ± 0.7 million years ago...

 stage (or alternatvely middle Tatarian stage) of the early Lopingian Series

Series (stratigraphy)

Series are subdivisions of rock layers made based on the age of the rock and corresponding to the dating system unit called an epoch, both being formally defined international conventions of the geological timescale. A series is therefore a sequence of rock depositions defining a...

, about 260.5-255 million years ago. It was found in the Leeukloof 43 farm in the Beaufort West District

Beaufort West

Beaufort West is a town in the Western Cape province in South Africa. It is the largest town in the arid Great Karoo region, and forms part of the Beaufort West Local Municipality, with 37 000 inhabitants in 2001....

 of the Western Cape Province and referred to the Tropidostoma Assemblage Zone

Tropidostoma Assemblage Zone

The Tropidostoma Assemblage Zone is a geological stratum and a faunal zone of the Beaufort Group, of the South African Karoo. The name refers to Tropidostoma, a genus of dicynodont mammal-like reptile, whose fossils have been found in that structure....

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Etymology

Saurorictus was first named by Sean P. Modesto and Roger M. H. Smith in 2001

2001 in paleontology

-Newly named insects:-Newly named bony fishes:-Newly named amphibians:-Newly named turtles:-Ichthyosaurs:-Newly named basal lepidosauromorphs:-Newly named plesiosaurs:-Newly named sphenodonts:-Newly named basal archosauromorphs:...

 and the type species

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

 is Saurorictus australis. The generic name is derived from sauros, Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 for "lizard", and rictus, Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 for "display of teeth" or "smile", thus the meaning is "lizard-smile". The specific name australis, meaning "southern", refers to the fact that this is the southernmost captorhinid to date.