science

Ictidosaurus

Ictidosaurus is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Ictidosaurus rather than just read about it. In short: Ictidosaurus was a therapsid genus found in the Abrahamskraal Formation of South Africa, which lived during the middle Permian period. Fossils of the type species were found in the Tapinocephalus (Capitanian age, 265.8-260.4 Ma), and the base of the Eodicynodon (Wordian age, 268–265.8 Ma) assembly zones, of the Karoo Basin.

Key takeaways

Ictidosaurus belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Ictidosaurus to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Ictidosaurus from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Ictidosaurus was a therapsid genus found in the Abrahamskraal Formation of South Africa, which lived during the middle Permian period. Fossils of the type species were found in the Tapinocephalus (Capitanian age, 265.8-260.4 Ma), and the base of the Eodicynodon (Wordian age, 268–265.8 Ma) assembly zones, of the Karoo Basin. Older classifications of the species, along with many other specimens found in the Iziko South African Museum archives, were originally classified within therocephalian family names, in this case the Ictidosauridae, which has been reclassified as belonging to the Scylacosauridae. The type species is I. angusticeps.

Description

Type specimen The holotype was of the Ictidosaurus angusticeps labeled SAM-PK-630 (NMQR 2910), found in the Tapinocephalus assembly zone. The skull measured 168 mm from snout to posterior of the left mandible, 41 mm across the skull in-between the canines, and 41 mm in height, and has been heavily disturbed by fracturing, reshaping of bone structures, and distortions, with the right side being the most well preserved of the skull. 16 to 17 teeth were identified on one side, and 10 on the other, with non being palatal. The upper dentition consists of six cylindrical incisors, one distal tip of a precanine, a large canine, and 18 lateral convex single cone postcanine (9 on each side), the first one of which is separated from the canine by diastema. Serrations on the teeth can be found on three of the incisors, on the posterior of the canine, and the anterior and posterior of the left side third postcanine tooth, which is in prosses of tooth eruption. The large number of postcanines is attributed to the length of the skull. The nasal process of the premaxilla reaches the level of the posterior borders of the nares. The species have many features in common with other early and more primitive Therocephalians, such as serated teeth, three lower incisors, a sloping mentum and lose symphysis, but it is set apart by its small marginal maxillary precanine, as well as the 6 upper incisors.

Known specimens At present, there are only two collections with this fossil, located in South Africa. The specimens of these collections, holotype SAM-PK-630 (NMQR 2910) and SAM-PK-77957 (AMNH 5527), both have the anterior portions of their snouts and mandibles in occlusion, making cranial anatomy unknown. Despite this, the crania have been used for differentiating I. angusticeps from Glanosuchus macrops by I. angusticeps having precanines (confirmed by CAT-scan).

Distribution The specimens found would have lived during the Permian South Africa, some 265 to 259 Ma. The two specimens known are from a river delta plain and a terrestrial depositional environment, with the type locality being near Beaufort West (32.3° S, 22.6° E), Western Cape, South Africa. This locality was, during the Permian, positioned at what today is the Drake Passage (60.0° S, 34.1° W), in-between South America and Antarctica.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Ictidosaurus

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Ictidosaurus claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Ictidosaurus before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Ictidosaurus ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Ictidosaurus

In research: Ictidosaurus appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Ictidosaurus in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Ictidosaurus is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Beaufort Group, Fossil taxa described in 1903, Fossils of South Africa, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Ictidosaurus outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Ictidosaurus” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Ictidosaurus in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Ictidosaurus means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Ictidosaurus out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ictidosaurus in simple terms?

Why does Ictidosaurus matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Ictidosaurus?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Ictidosaurus.