Shihtienfenia

Shihtienfenia was a pareiasaurid from the Late Permian of China. Lee (1997) refers to S. xuecunensis as a metaspecies lacking the autapomorphies of Shihtienfenia. Tsuji & Müller (2009) seem to consider it a valid taxon for cladistic analysis, and like Lee 1997 place the two Chinese species close to Pareiasuchus. S. permica (Young and Yeh, 1963);The skull of this pareiasaur is unknown. It is known originally from a number of isolated vertebrae, jaws, and limb-bones and an incomplete skeleton, all from a single locality (Shiqianfeng Formation at Baode, Shanxi). Shanshisaurus xuecunensis' Cheng, 1980 and Huanghesaurus liuliensis Gao, 1983 are synonyms. Shihtienfenia is unusual because of the presence of 6, rather than the usual 4, sacral vertebrae, and may belong in a separate subfamily, although Oskar Kuhn includes it under the Pareiasaurines in his monograph (Kuhn 1969). As with the Pareiasaurines the upper margin of the ilium is flat.