Elph (therapsid) explained

Elph (an arbitrary combination of letters) is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsids from Russia. Four specimens have been found from the Sokolki Assemblage in European Russia, representing a fauna that dates back to the Late Permian.^[1] The holotype, PIN 2353/37, was originally considered a juvenile specimen due to its small size (with a total skull length of 106 mm), before being recognized as a mature individual.^[2]

Elph was a small herbivore that lived alongside carnivorous akidnognathids and inostranceviids, as well as larger herbivores like Dicynodon and pareiasaurids.^[3] The type species E. borealis was named in 1999. Elph has a short snout and tusks and is closely related to Interpresosaurus and Katumbia.^[4]

Notes and References

1. Angielczyk . K.D. . Kurkin, A.A. . 2003 . Phylogenetic analysis of Russian Permian dicynodonts (Therapsida: Anomodontia): implications for Permian biostratigraphy and Pangaean biogeography . Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society . 139 . 2 . 157–212 . 10.1046/j.1096-3642.2003.00081.x. free .
2. Kurkin. A.A.. 1999. A New Dicynodont from the Malaya Severnaya Dvina River Excavations. Paleontological Journal. 33. 3. 297-301.
3. Golubev . V.K. . 2000 . The faunal assemblages of Permian terrestrial vertebrates from Eastern Europe . Paleontological Journal . 34 . Suppl. 2 . S211–S224 .
4. Angielczyk . K.D. . 2007 . New specimens of the Tanzanian dicynodont "Cryptocynodon" parringtoni Von Huene, 1942 (Therapsida, Anomodontia), with an expanded analysis of Permian dicynodont phylogeny . Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 27 . 1 . 116–131 . 10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[116:NSOTTD]2.0.CO;2. 86308349 .