Rhinesuchus whaitsi

Rhinesuchus is a large temnospondyl amphibian. Remains of the genus are known from the Permian of the South African Karoo Basin's Tapinocephalus and Cistecephalus assemblage zones, both belonging to the Beaufort Group. The skull of Rhinesuchus had a flat triangular shape with blunt snout similar to some of the other large amphibians, and had a palate filled with small sharp teeth, suggesting that it hunted fish. Also, the small eyes were on top of the head suggesting that it approached its prey from below. It is a popular misconception that Rhinesuchus is named after the Rhine River in Europe; Rhinesuchus actually gets its name from the Greek word for nose. The type species is Rhinesuchus whaitsi. Two more species, R. africanus and R. wadiai, are considered to be nomen dubium. R. broomianus and R. beaufortensis have been synonymized with R. whaitsi, while R. capensis has been moved out of the genus into Rhinesuchoides. Muchocephalus has also been synonymized with R. whaitsi.

While not the last of the large carnivorous amphibians,‭ ‬Rhinesuchus existed at a time when the majority of the other species became extinct during the Permian-triassic extinction event.‭ ‬After this time the reptiles would become the dominant life forms until the KT extinction.

The skull on Rhinesuchus had a flat triangular shape with blunt snout similar to some of the other large amphibians and had a palate filled with small sharp teeth suggesting that it hunted fish.‭ ‬Also,‭ ‬the small eyes were on top of the head suggesting that it approached its prey from below.

It is a popular misconception that Rhinesuchus is named after the Rhine River in Europe, but‭ ‬Rhinesuchusactually gets its name from the Greek word for nose.‭ ‬Two more‭ ‬species,‭ ‬R.‭ ‬africanus and R.‭ ‬wadiai,‭ ‬are considered to be Nomen dubium,‭ ‬while others have been found to be other species.‭ ‬At the time of writing only R.broomianus and R.‭ ‬capensis are recognised.