| abstract | - The name Pelanomodon can be broken up into three parts; “pelos” meaning mud, “anomo” meaning irregular and “odon” meaning tooth. Together, this suggests Pelanomodon to be a mud dwelling anomodont (a group of theraspids that are characterized by their lack of teeth).[2] The Karoo Basin during this period was characterized by its extensive flood plains,[3] so to hypothesize a mud based habitat for this genus is not far fetched. Pelanomodon is in the Geikiidae family along with Aulacephalodon and Geikia. Aulacephalodon is believed to have lived along side Pelanomodon in the Karoo Basin, where as records of Geikia have been discovered in Scotland and Tanzania. Pelanomodon is primarily characterized and distinguished from Aulacephalodon by its lack of tusks.[1] Other crananial features have been used by paleontologists to establish two species of Pelanomodon; P. moschops and P. rubidgei. However, recent analysis points to the conclusion that these may in fact the same species.
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