Moschops

▪ extinct reptiles

      extinct genus of mammal-like reptiles (Therapsida) found as fossils in rocks of Permian age (299 million to 251 million years ago) in southern Africa. Moschops is representative of a group that became adapted to a diet of plant food; it was about 2.6 m (8 feet) long. The body was massive; the skull was high and shortened front to back. Numerous chisel-edged teeth suitable for cropping vegetation were present in the jaws. The animal's back characteristically sloped downward from the front to the back in giraffelike fashion. The limb girdles or supports were massive, especially in the shoulder region, and the bone on the top of the skull was greatly thickened.

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