Euchambersia

Euchambersia Temporal range: Late Permian - Early Triassic
Euchambersia and its prey, a dicynodont
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Synapsida
Order:	Therapsida
Suborder:	†Therocephalia
Genus:	†Euchambersia Broom, 1931
Species
E. mirabilis (type)

Euchambersia was a mammal-like reptile (order Therapsida) of the suborder Therocephalia that lived during the Late Permian epoch, approximately 250 million years ago, in what is now South Africa.

Restoration

Euchambersia was a unique therocephalian. Euchambersia may have venom glands connected to its canine teeth. Like snakes, the teeth of Euchambersia were adapted to inject venom to kill its prey. A recess behind each canine tooth housed the venom gland, while grooves down the outer sides of the canine teeth delivered the venom into the puncture wound, together with powerful jaws this made it a very efficient predator to hunt the herbivorious dicynodonts and pareiasaurs it encounterd.

In popular culture

Euchambersia made an appearance in Walking with Monsters. Here, identified as a therocephalian, it was seen hunting Lystrosaurus in packs while the herd passed through a canyon. It is depicted as being nocturnal and having venom more potent than that of a black mamba. The model used for the Euchambersia was the same model that was used for the Thrinaxodon that appeared in the first episode of Walking with Dinosaurs But it may not have been this guy, it was probably another unidentified species. However, this is difficult to confirm because the encyclopedia never had an entry for it.

See also

• List of synapsids