Australothyris is an extinct genus of basal procolophonomorph parareptile known from the Middle Permian (middle Capitanian stage) of Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone, South Africa. The type and only known species is Australothyris smithi. As the most basal member of Procolophonomorpha, Australothyris helped to contextualize the origin of this major parareptile subgroup. It has been used to support the hypotheses that procolophonomorphs originated in Gondwana and ancestrally possess temporal fenestrae, due to its large and fully enclosed temporal fenestra and South African heritage. It also possessed several unique features, including a high tooth number, long postfrontal, small interpterygoid vacuity, and a specialized interaction between the stapes and quadrate. Discovery Australothyris is known from a single specimen discovered at the Beukesplaas farm by Robert Smith in 1995. The fossil site at the Beukesplaas farm contains a diverse parareptile and synapsid fauna positioned in the Middle Permian Tapinocephalus Assemblage zone of the upper Abrahamskraal Formation. This specimen, SAM-PK-K8302, included most of a skull and portions of the rest of the skeleton, which had mostly been eroded away prior to its discovery. It was initially referred to Owenetta based on the numerous teeth and long postfrontal, until a reexamination revealed a temporal fenestra, which was absent in owenettids. In the wake of this restudy, the specimen was recognized as a new taxon, which was named Australohyris smithi by Sean P. Modesto, Diane M. Scott, and Robert R. Reisz in 2009. The generic name translates to "southern opening" in recognition that it supports the hypothesis that parareptiles originated in Gondwana and went through a phase of evolution where they possessed a temporal fenestra, an opening in the skull behind the eyes. The specific name honors Robert Smith. Description Portions of the snout and upper skull have been weathered away, but many notable features are preserved. The maxilla contains 31 teeth, an unusually high number which is only surpassed by Microleter and Lanthanosuchus among parareptiles. The teeth are small, slender, and conical, retaining roughly the same size and shape except for a subtle decrease in size towards the rear of the maxilla. The prefrontal is simple, hosting a small buttress in front of the orbits (eye holes) and being dissimilar in shape to that of procolophonids. Although the frontal does contact the upper edge of the orbit as in other amniotes, it lacks the distinct lappet observed in lanthanosuchoids. A distinct lateral temporal fenestra is present behind