Cynodont
clade of therapsids
The Cynodonts are a sub-order of the Therapsida. Cynodonts, one of the most diverse groups of therapsids, are named after their dog-like teeth.
| Cynodont Temporal range: Permian – Upper Triassic
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| Belesodon with massive attachments for jaw muscles | |
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| Suborder: | Cynodontia
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The taxon is a clade which includes modern mammals and their extinct close relatives, the Mammaliaformes.
The cynodonts lived in all continents, and their fossil record begins in the Upper Permian 256 million years ago.[3]
The extinct members of the group were victims of the End-Triassic extinction event, but the line that led to the mammals survived.[4]
References
change- ↑ Kermack D. 1982. A new tritylodont from the Kayenta Formation of Arizona. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 76 1-17.
- ↑ Sues, Hans-Dieter & F.A. Jenkins 2006. The postcranial skeleton of Kayentatherium wellesi from the Lower Jurassic Kayenta Formation of Arizona and the phylogenetic significance of postcranial features in tritylodontid cynodonts. In: Carrano Matthew T; Gaudin T.J; Blob R.W. and Wible J.R., Amniote Paleobiology: perspectivers on the evolution of mammals, birds, and reptiles. University of Chicago Press. 114-152
- ↑ PaleoBiology Database: Cynodontia, basic info
- ↑ Ruta, M., Botha-Brink, J., Mitchell, S.A., Benton, M.J. 2013. The radiation of cynodonts and the ground plan of mammalian morphological diversity Proceedings of the Royal Society B 280: 20131865. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2013.1865 Reference page.