It lived 260 million years ago during the Permian Period, in arid areas with rivers and lakes—almost like parts of modern-day Namibia or Botswana.

[3] Anomocephalus was discovered at the base of the Beaufort Group, which is a geographical stratum that consists of mostly sandstone and shales that have been deposited in the Karoo Basin.

[1][4] The Beaufort Group dominated most of the basin with fluvial sedimentation, which is carried by streams and rivers that were most likely formed by ice masses such as glaciers.

[5] Anomocephalus was collected from a locality near Williston at the base of the Beaufort Group in the Karoo Basin, which is located within the Northern Cape Province of South Africa.

[1] It was discovered during the continued program of B. Rubidge to determine the lateral extent of the Eodicynodon (an extinct dicynodont therapsid) Assemblage Zone.

[1] The discovery of Anomocephalus and its phylogenetic position provided compelling evidence that anomodonts initially diversified in Gondwana.

[1] This conflicts with previous suggestions that anomodonts were freely dispersing between the northern and southern regions of the Late Permian Pangea or that therapsids first evolved in Euramerica and then moved to Gondwana when climate became favorable.

[1][6][7] Additionally, the basal phylogenetic position of Anomocephalus suggests that herbivory was acquired initially by the anomodonts of Gondwana.