Uranocentrodon

Uranocentrodon is an extinct genus of temnospondyls in the family Rhinesuchidae. Known from a skull, Uranocentrodon was a large predator with a length up to . Originally named Myriodon by van Hoepen in 1911, it was transferred to a new genus on account of the name being preoccupied in 1917. It has been synonymized with Rhinesuchus, but this has not been widely supported. It was also originally considered to be of Triassic age, but more recent analysis has placed its age as just below the Permian-Triassic boundary.

== History and specimens == Fossils of the animal now known as Uranocentrodon were first discovered in a sandstone quarry in the Normandien Formation near Senekal in Free State, South Africa. The first example of these fossils was a fragmentary skull excavated by a local family. Subsequent excavations and searches undertaken by various parties unearthed more specimens which hailed from the quarry. Among these specimens included three nearly complete skeletons overlapping each other. The initial skull was determined to belong to the same individual as one of the skeletons. The skull and three skeletons were acquired by the Transvaal Museum and given the designations TM 75, TM 75d, and TM75h by E.C.N. van Hoepen. In 1911, he gave the formal name Myriodon senekalensis to the specimens by means of a brief description published in Dutch. He published a more comprehensive description a few years later in 1915. Two additional skulls were mentioned in this description, although their whereabouts are currently unknown. In 1917 it was determined that the name Myriodon was already in use by a genus of fish, and that a new name had to be used. Thus, van Hoepen renamed Myriodon senekalensis to Uranocentrodon senekalensis, which roughly translates to "prickle-toothed palate of Senekal". The original Transvaal Museum specimens have collectively been termed the syntypes of Uranocentrodon.