Ericiolacerta parva

thumb|left|Ericiolacerta Ericiolacerta is an extinct genus of small therocephalian therapsids from the early Triassic of South Africa and Antarctica. Ericiolacerta, meaning "hedgehog lizard" (from the Latin ericius, "hedgehon" and lacerta, "lizard"), was named by D. M. S. Watson in 1931. The species E. parva is known from the holotype specimen which consists of a nearly complete skeleton found in the Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone within the Katberg Formation of the Beaufort Group in South Africa, and from a partial jaw found in the Lower Triassic Fremouw Formation in Antarctica. Ericiolacerta was around in length, with long limbs and relatively small teeth. It probably ate insects and other small invertebrates. The therocephalians—therapsids with mammal-like heads—were abundant in Permian times, but only a few made it into the Triassic. Ericiolacerta was one of those. It is possible that they gave rise to the cynodonts, the only therapsid group to survive into post-Triassic times. Cynodonts gave rise to mammals.

== Discovery == The Ericiolacerta holotype specimen Ericiolacerta parva was discovered in 1931 in the Katberg Formation of the Beaufort Group near Harrismith, Free State in South Africa and described by Professor David Meredith Seares Watson in an article for the Zoological Society of London. It was discovered by A. W. Putterill within a cornerstone block of limestone from the shales of the Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone, placing it between ~251 and ~249 Ma during the early Triassic. The specimen consisted of a nearly complete skeleton with a slightly crushed skull. Watson described it as being closely related to the Therocephalian Scaloposaurus based on their skull morphology but as a new member of the family Scaloposauridae founded by Broom in 1914 based on differences in its dentition and jaw structure. This classification was later changed as this family was invalidated and many of its members were moved into the superfamily Baurioidea.