Page "Dicynodont" Paragraph 3

The dicynodont skull is highly specialised, light but strong, with the synapsid temporal openings at the rear of the skull greatly enlarged to accommodate larger jaw muscles.

The front of the skull and the lower jaw are generally narrow and, in all but a number of primitive forms, toothless.

Instead, the front of the mouth is equipped with a horny beak, as in turtles and ceratopsian dinosaurs.

Food was processed through retraction of the lower jaw when the mouth closed, producing a powerful shearing action ( Crompton and Hotton 1967 ), which would have enabled dicynodonts to cope with tough plant material.

Many genera also have a pair of tusks, which it is thought may have been an example of sexual dimorphism ( Colbert 1969 p. 137 )