page_title: Eosimops
section_title: Description and paleobiology
hierarchical_section_title: Eosimops / Description and paleobiology
caption_attribution_description: English: A reconstruction of the dycynodont Eosimops newtoni.
context_page_description: Eosimops is an extinct genus of pylaecephalid dicynodonts. They were small synapsids superficially resembling modern mammals. Eosimops is known from several skull specimens, as well as one complete skeleton. Eosimops lived during the Middle Permian of South Africa.
context_section_description: Eosimops was a small, non-mammalian synapsid. It was around 34 cm in length (13.4 in.), roughly the size of a prairie dog. It had a long cylindrical body, with sprawling, clawed limbs which it probably used for digging. Eosimops had two long tusks on its upper jaw, and a cutting keratinized beak for processing vegetation. It likely fed on leaves, stems, roots, and fleshy parts of plants. It has been suggested that some dicynodonts had hair, so Eosimops may have sported small hairs for insulation and tactile sensation. Its short and stocky proportions could have also aided in heat retention.
caption: A life restoration of an adult Eosimops newtoni.
exif: {}