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.
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.
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