Captorhinus

Captorhinus is an extinct genus of captorhinid reptiles that lived during the Permian period. Its remains are known from North America, Europe, India and Africa.[1] In 1882, Edward Cope described a fragmentary skull from the Lower Permian of Texas collected by W. F. Cummins at Coffee Creek as Ectocynodon aguti. The name had then been revised several times by different paleontologists as more genera were discovered. In 1911, paleontologist Ermine Cowles Case revised the recently discovered species. He decided to refer P. (Ectodynodon) aguti, P. aduncus, and P. isolomus to Captorhinus, and established a new family, Captorhinidae

Etymology
Named by Cope from the Latin word, “captor,” meaning, “one who catches something,” and the Greek word, “rhino,” meaning, “of the nose.” This is based on the theory that the characteristically curved premaxilla of Captorhinus may have been used to catch prey.

Geological & Environmental Information
Captorhinus is known from the Admiral, Belle Plains, Clyde, Arroyo, Vale, and possibly the Choza Formations, Lower Permian, of Texas.[4] The genus is also known from the Lower Permian fissure deposits at Richard’s Spur, Oklahoma, and the Cutler Formation, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico. The morphology of small captorhinids is best known from the vast amount of material collected near Fort Sill, Oklahoma. The majority of bones found belong to the multiple-tooth-rowed captorhinid, Captorhinus aguti. The fossils found are currently in the Oklahoma Museum of Natural History (OMNH). Two specimens held in the OMNH that have been part of the diagnostic process of these species are OMNH 52366, an almost complete right maxilla, and OMNH 52367, a partial right dentary. It is uncertain if the two elements belong to the same individual.[5] Another commonly mentioned captorhinid, Labidosaurus hamatus, was found in a Lower Permian geologic group in Texas, called the Clear Fork Group.[6] There is a skull and incomplete postcranial skeleton of Captorhinus'' in the possession of the American Museum of Natural History. Another significant specimen belongs to the Chicago Museum of Natural History taken from the Richard’s Spur, Oklahoma locality.