Jonkeria


Jonkeria is an extinct genus of dinocephalians. Species were very large and omnivorous, from the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone, Lower Beaufort Group, of the South African Karroo.

Description

The overall length was or more, the skull about 55 cm long.
The skull is nearly twice as long as wide, and the snout is elongated and provided with sharp incisors and large canines. The cheek teeth were small. The body is robustly built, and the limbs stout. According to Boonstra 1969 p. 38, Jonkeria cannot be distinguished from its relative Titanosuchus on cranial grounds, but only in limb length; Jonkeria having short and squat limbs, and Titanosuchus long ones.

Classification

About a dozen species have been named, including the type species, J. truculenta. At least some of the other species were synonymised by Boonstra 1969. There has been no recent review of the genus.