Elph (therapsid)

Elph Temporal range: Late Permian, Wordian–Changhsingian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Synapsida
Clade:	Therapsida
Suborder:	†Anomodontia
Clade:	†Dicynodontia
Family:	†Elphidae
Subfamily:	†Elphinae
Genus:	†Elph Kurkin, 1999
Species:	†E. borealis
Binomial name
†Elph borealis Kurkin, 1999

Elph (an arbitrary combination of letters^[1]) is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsids from Russia. Four specimens have been found from the Sokolki Assemblage in European Russia, representing a fauna that dates back to the Late Permian.^[2] The holotype, PIN 2353/37, was originally considered a juvenile specimen due to its small size (with a total skull length of 106 mm), before being recognized as a mature individual.^[1]

Elph was a small herbivore that lived alongside carnivorous akidnognathids and inostranceviids, as well as larger herbivores like Dicynodon and pareiasaurids.^[3] The type species E. borealis was named in 1999. Elph has a short snout and tusks and is closely related to Interpresosaurus and Katumbia.^[4]

References

1. Kurkin, A.A. (1999). "A New Dicynodont from the Malaya Severnaya Dvina River Excavations". Paleontological Journal. 33 (3): 297–301.
2. Angielczyk, K.D.; Kurkin, A.A. (2003). "Phylogenetic analysis of Russian Permian dicynodonts (Therapsida: Anomodontia): implications for Permian biostratigraphy and Pangaean biogeography". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 139 (2): 157–212. doi:10.1046/j.1096-3642.2003.00081.x.
3. Golubev, V.K. (2000). "The faunal assemblages of Permian terrestrial vertebrates from Eastern Europe" (PDF). Paleontological Journal. 34 (Suppl. 2): S211 – S224.
4. Angielczyk, K.D. (2007). "New specimens of the Tanzanian dicynodont "Cryptocynodon" parringtoni Von Huene, 1942 (Therapsida, Anomodontia), with an expanded analysis of Permian dicynodont phylogeny". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 27 (1): 116–131. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[116:NSOTTD]2.0.CO;2. S2CID 86308349.