Bathygnathus

deep jaw

• bathys · Greek · deep
• gnathos · Greek · jaw

The name combines the Greek words "bathys" (deep) and "gnathos" (jaw), meaning "deep jaw." It was chosen to describe the notably deep, robust lower jaw preserved in the type specimen — a partial upper jaw fossil. The depth and size of the jaw suggested to early researchers a large and powerful animal.

Named by

Leidy

Year named

1854

Period

Early Permian

Stage

Sakmarian

Found in

Prince Edward Island, Canada

Bathygnathus is not a dinosaur — it is a Permian synapsid (a sphenacodontid pelycosaur), most likely a species of Dimetrodon or a closely related genus. It is not even a reptile in the modern cladistic sense, but belongs to the lineage leading to mammals. It is considered a nomen dubium because the fragmentary material cannot be confidently assigned to a known species. It is notable for being one of the first Permian vertebrates described from Canadian material. It should not be confused with any dinosaur genus.