Lepagia is a poorly known genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of meat-eating mammal-like reptile, (Therapsids), which lived during the Upper Triassic

Triassic

The Triassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about 250 to 200 Mya . As the first period of the Mesozoic Era, the Triassic follows the Permian and is followed by the Jurassic. Both the start and end of the Triassic are marked by major extinction events...

 in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

. Partly due to the paucity of remains (it's only known from teeth) the precise affinities of this genus are unclear. It seems reasonably closely related to Probainognathus

Probainognathus

Probainognathus is a genus of meat-eating mammal-like reptile that lived during the lower Upper Triassic of South America. This creature had an incipient squamosal-dentary jaw-cranium joint, which is a clearly mammalian anatomical feature. It was at the very least closely related to the family of...

, a somewhat earlier inhabitant of South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

. The genus Lepagia ("for Lepage") was named by Hahn, Wild and Wouters in 1987 based on a single species.

Fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

 remains of the species Lepagia gaumensis have been found in the Norian (late) - Rhaetian (early) (Upper Triassic)-age strata

Stratum

In geology and related fields, a stratum is a layer of sedimentary rock or soil with internally consistent characteristics that distinguish it from other layers...

 from Habay-la-Vielle, Hallau, Saint-Nicolas-de-Port in Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

, Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 and France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

The holotype

Holotype

A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...

 is at the Institut royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique (Royal Institute of Natural Sciences of Belgium) in Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

. These teeth are 2 - 3 mm in length. The postcanines have long and narrow crowns with three to five cusps, the central one of which is dominant and points straight upwards. The root is vaguely rectangular, with the lower portion tapering. There are no distinctive wear facets, but the separation of crown and root are clear. Sometimes the crown is larger and sometimes the root.

Godefroit and Battail cite similarities and differences with and to both Chiniquodontidae

Chiniquodontidae

Chiniquodontidae is a family of meat-eating advanced mammal-like reptiles that lived during the Upper Triassic of South America and perhaps Europe. A further possible representative, Aleodon, has been identified from the Middle Triassic of Africa...

 and Dromatheriidae and leave the systematical placement open.