Cynodont

Procynosuchidae
Epicynodontia

Galesauridae

Eucynodontia

Cynognathia

Cynognathidae

Tritylodontidae

Probainognathia

Trithelodontidae

Mammaliformes

Cynodonta is the suborder that contains the most mammal-like of the non-mammalian therapsids, which are sometimes termed "mammal-like reptiles". The most derived cynodonts are found within Eucynodontia clade, which also contains the members of Mammalia.

About the cynodont in Walking With Dinosaurs

The presence of whiskers implies body hair and suggests that the cynodont was warm blooded. The cynodont and Placerias were distant relatives, but the cynodont was more mammal-like.

This animal has been modelled on fossils of another cynodont found in South Africa called Thrinaxodon . In the Petrified Forest of Arizona, only two molar teeth of a large cynodont have ever been found. These were similar to Thrinaxodon's but suggested a much larger animal.

References

• Hopson, J.A. & J.W. Kitching (2001). "A probainognathian cynodont from South Africa and the phylogeny of non-mammalian cynodonts." Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. 156: 5-35.

External links

• [1] BBC Science and Nature: Prehistoric Life.
• Palaeos cynodonts