Bradysaurus, (genus Bradysaurus), a group of extinct early reptiles found in South Africa as fossils in deposits from the Permian Period (299 million to 251 million years ago). Bradysaurus belonged to a larger group of reptiles called pareiasaurs, which were characterized by massive bodies, strong limbs and limb supports, and grotesque skulls with many bony protuberances. Pareiasaurs were not dinosaurs, but they were the first very large land vertebrates and were unusual for their time in that they were herbivorous. Bradysaurus, like the other pareiasaurs, had leaf-shaped crenulated teeth along the jaw margins, palatal teeth, and a thick skull that was about 0.5 metre (about 1.6 feet) long.