A procynosuchid cynodont from central Europe

Diversified assemblages of non-mammalian synapsids (or mammal-like reptiles) have long been known from the Upper Permian of southern Africa1 and the Russian Platform2. In contrast, Upper Permian deposits in central and western Europe have rarely yielded remains of terrestrial vertebrates. The German Kupferschiefer (basal Zechstein 1) and its English equivalent, the Marl Slate, have yielded several reptiles: the gliding diapsid Coelurosauravus3 (also known from the Lower Sakamena Formation of Madagascar3−4), the archosauromorph Protorosaurus5, and the pareiasaur Parasaurus6. The Cuttie's Hillock Sandstone of northern Scotland has yielded the pareiasaur Elginia and two dicynodont synapsids an…