Watongia

Watongia; Temporal range: Middle Permian
	Restoration
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Synapsida
Family:	†Varanopidae
Subfamily:	†Varanopinae
Genus:	†Watongia; Olson, 1974
Type species
	†Watongia meieri; Olson, 1974

Watongia is an extinct genus of non-mammalian synapsids from Middle Permian of Oklahoma. Only one species has been described, Watongia meieri, from the Chickasha Formation.^[1] It was assigned to family Gorgonopsidae by Olson^[1] and to Eotitanosuchia by Carroll.^[2] Reisz and collaborators assigned the genus in Varanopidae. Based on comparisons of its vertebrae with other varanopids, it was the largest varanopid with a body length of approximately 2 metres (6 ft 7 in).^[3] It was a contemporary of its closest relative, the much smaller Varanodon; the two may possibly represent growth stages of a single animal.^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b Olson, E.C. (1974). "On the Source of Therapsids". Annals of the South African Museum. 64: 27–46.
^ Carroll, R.L. (1988). Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W. H Freeman Company.
^ Reisz, R.R.; Laurin, M. (2004). "A reevaluation of the enigmatic Permian synapsid Watongia and of its stratigraphic significance". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 41 (4): 377–386. doi:10.1139/e04-016.
^ Maddin, H.C.; Evans, D.C.; Reisz, R.R. (2006). "An Early Permian varanodontine varanopid (Synapsida: Eupelycosauria) from the Richards Spur locality, Oklahoma". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 26 (4): 957–966. JSTOR 4524646.