Herpetoskylax

Herpetoskylax is an extinct genus of synapsid biarmosuchian which existed in South Africa. The type species is Herpetoskylax hopsoni.[1] It lived in the Late Permian Period.[2]

The genus name means ‘reptile-puppy’, from the Ancient Greek herpeto- (ἑρπετόν, ‘creeping animal’) and skylax (σκύλαξ, ‘young dog’). The juxtaposition of reptilian and mammalian names highlights the transitional characters of therapsids.