Exaeretodon

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Exaeretodon
Fossil range: Middle to Late Triassic

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Synapsida
Order:	Therapsida
Suborder:	Cynodontia
Family:	Traversodontidae
Genus:	Exaeretodon Cabrera, 1943

Species

E. frenguelli (type species)
?E. argentinus Bonaparte, 1962
?E. major (Huene, 1935-42 (originally Traversodon))
E. riograndensis Abdala, Barbarena, and Dornelles, 2002
?E. statisticae Chatterjee, 1982
?E. vincei (Bonaparte, 1963 (originally Proexaeretodon))

Exaeretodon is a genus of traversodontid cynodont; several species are known, from various formations. E. argentinus, E. frenguelli, and E. vincei are from the Carnian-age (Upper Triassic) Ischigualasto Formation of Argentina. E. major and E. riograndensis are from the Ladinian-age (Middle Triassic) portion of the Santa Maria Formation of Brazil. E. statisticae is from the Carnian-age Maleri Formation of India. This genus was an herbivore up to 1.8 meters long (5.9 ft), with a specialized grinding action when feeding.^[1]

An analysis of the size of the bones of calves collected in Paleorrota concluded that the mother Exaeretodon had one or two calves, for one pregnancy. Another point of interest is that these cynodonts had deciduous teeth, which is a characteristic of mammals and means that babies could not chew, and required specialized parental care. Only older juveniles had permanent teeth.