differs from those of others Russian anteosaurids, so this specimen was attributed to a new species of the genus Titanophoneus (and named Titanophoneus rugosus). More recently, Christian Kammerer showed that the shape of this boss differs markedly from the lenticular bosses of the Russian anteosaurs T. potens and T. adamanteus. In contrast the angular boss of T. rugosus is very similar to the Anteosaurus morphotype, so this specimen can be the first representative of the genus Anteosaurus in Russia. The dermal sculturing of the boss, with prominent furrows, is different from that observed in few well preserved A. magnificus specimens. According to Kammerer, as the range of variation in dermal sculturing between Anteosaurus individuals is no well known, it is more reasonable to consider provisionally Titanophoneus rugosus as a nomen dubium (maybe an Anteosaurus sp.). Only the discovery of more complete Russians specimens with the rugosus morphotype will clarify the relationship of this taxon with Anteosaurus. Paleoenvironment Paleogeography and paleoclimate At the time of Anteosaurus, most of the landmasses were united in one supercontinent, Pangaea. It was roughly C-shaped: its northern (Laurasia) and southern (Gondwana) parts were connected to the west, but separated to the east by a very large oceanic bay - the Tethys Sea. A long string of microcontinents, grouped under the name of Cimmeria, divided the Tethys in two : the Paleo-Tethys in the north, and the Neo-Tethys in the south. The territory that would become the South African Karoo was located much further south than today, at the level of the 60th parallel south. Although located close to the Antarctic Circle, the climate prevailing at this latitude during most of the Permian was temperate with distinct seasons. There are uncertainties about the temperatures that prevailed in South Africa during the Middle Permian. Previously, this region of the world had undergone significant glaciation during the Upper Carboniferous. Subsequently, the Lower Permian had first seen the retreat of glaciers and the emergence of subpolar tundra and taiga-like vegetation (dominated by Botrychiopsis and Gangamopteris), then the introduction of warmer and wetter climatic conditions that allowed the development of the Mesosaurus fauna and the Glossopteris flora. The scientists who studied the climate of that time found very different results on the thermal ranges that existed in the ancient Karoo. At the end of the 1950s, Edna Plumstead compared the Karoo to today's Siberia or Canada, with a highly seasonal climate