such as Schizoneura and Paraschizoneura, formed bamboo-like stands that grew in and around swamps. Herbaceous horsetails (Phyllotheca) and ferns carpeted the undergrowth and small lycopods occupied the wetter areas. Aquatic fauna included the lamellibranch Palaeomutela, the palaeonisciformes fishes Atherstonia, Bethesdaichthys, Blourugia, Namaichthys and Westlepis, and large freshwater predators, the temnospondyl amphibians Rhinesuchoides and Rhinesuchus. The terrestrial fauna was particularly diverse and dominated by the therapsids. Anteosaurus occupied the top of the food chain there. It shared its environment with many other carnivorous tetrapods. Other large predatory animals included the lion-sized Lycosuchid therocephalians Lycosuchus and Simorhinella, and the Scylacosaurid therocephalian Glanosuchus. Medium-sized carnivorous were represented by the basal biarmosuchian Hipposaurus, the more derived biarmosuchian Bullacephalus, the scylacosaurids Ictidosaurus, Scylacosaurus, and Pristerognathus, and the small and basal gorgonopsian Eriphostoma. The small predator guild (mainly insectivorous forms) included the therocephalians Alopecodon, and Pardosuchus, the small monitor-like varanopids Elliotsmithia, Heleosaurus, and Microvaranops, the millerettid Broomia, the procolophonomorph Australothyris, and the lizard-like Eunotosaurus of uncertain affinities (variously considered as a parareptile, a pantestudine or a caseid synapsid). Herbivorous were also numerous and diversified. Large-sized vegetarians were mainly represented by numerous dinocephalians including the tapinocephalids Agnosaurus, Criocephalosaurus, Mormosaurus, Moschognathus, Moschops, Riebeeckosaurus, Struthiocephalus Struthionops, and Tapinocephalus, the Styracocephalid Styracocephalus, and the huge titanosuchids Jonkeria and Titanosuchus. Other large herbivores that were not synapsids included the large bradysaurian pareiasaurs represented by Bradysaurus, Embrithosaurus and Nochelesaurus, whose dentition very different from that of herbivorous dinocephalians indicates that the two groups occupied clearly distinct ecological niches. The small to medium-sized forms included basal anomodonts (the non-dicynodonts Anomocephalus, Galechirus, Galeops and Galepus) and numerous dicynodonts (Brachyprosopus, Colobodectes, Pristerodon, and the Pylaecephalids Diictodon, Eosimops, Prosictodon, and Robertia,). Classification and phylogeny Named by Watson in 1921, Anteosaurus was longtime classified as a ‘Titanosuchian Deinocephalian’, and it is only in 1954 that Boonstra separated the Titanosuchians in two families : Jonkeridae (a junior synonym of Titanosuchidae) and Anteosauridae. At about the same time, Efremov erected the family Brithopodidae in which he includes the fragmentary Brithopus and the better known forms Syodon and Titanophoneus. Much later, Hopson and Barghusen argued that Brithopodidae should be discontinued and that the Russian taxa Syodon, Titanophoneus and Doliosauriscus should be placed with Anteosaurus in Anteosauridae. These authors placed also Anteosauridae in the new group Anteosauria for distinguished them of the other major dinocephalian group the Tapinocephalia in which they included the titanosuchids and the tapinocephalids. They also created the