Anomodont

The Anomodontia were a major group of therapsids, an extinct group of animals commonly known as "mammal-like reptiles." They were mostly toothless herbivores. During the Middle Permian they were very diverse, including groups like the Venyukovioidea, the Dromasauria, the Dicynodontia, and early very primitive forms like Anomocephalus and Patranomodon. Of these only the Dicynodonts survived to the Late Permian, and became the most successful and abundant of all Permian herbivores, filling ecological niches ranging from large browsers down to small burrowers. Only two dicynodont families survived the Permian–Triassic extinction event, one of which, the Lystrosauridae, soon gave rise to the Kannemeyeridae. These latter were large, stocky, beaked animals that remained the dominant terrestrial herbivore right up until the Late Triassic, when changing conditions (perhaps increasing aridity) caused them to decline and eventually die out.

In March 2011, scientists in Brazil discovered the 260-million-year-old fossils of a unique saber-tooth vegetarian. The mammal-like reptile, with the scientific name Tiarajudens eccentricus, used two large fangs at the front of its mouth for shredding and tearing and also probably to ward off predators, but not to eat meat.^[1] The fossils are from the extinct Anomodontia suborder within the Therapsida order, four-footed species who dominated during the Permian period, before the dinosaur age.^[2] The fossil remains indicate that the snout-nosed creature was slightly larger than the size of a wild boar.

Classification

Taxonomy

• Order Therapsida
• SUBORDER ANOMODONTIA
  • Anomocephalus
  • Patranomodon
  • Venjukoviamorpha
    • Family Otsheridae
      • Otsheria
      • Suminia
    • Family Venjukoviidae
      • Ulemica
      • Venjukovia
  • Infraorder Dromasauria
    • Family Galeopidae
      • Galechirus
      • Galeops
      • Galepus
  • Infraorder Dicynodontia
    • Family Endothiodontidae
    • Family Eodicynodontidae
    • Superfamily Kingorioidea
      • Family Kingoriidae
    • Diictodontia
    • Superfamily Emydopoidea
      • Family Cistecephalidae
      • Family Emydopidae
    • Superfamily Robertoidea
      • Family Diictodontidae
      • Family Robertiidae
    • Pristerodontia
      • Family Aulacocephalodontidae
      • Family Dicynodontidae
      • Family Lystrosauridae
      • Family Oudenodontidae
      • Family Pristerodontidae
      • Superfamily Kannemeyeriiformes
        • Family Kannemeyeriidae
        • Family Shansiodontidae
        • Family Stahleckeriidae

Phylogeny

Cladogram modified from Liu et al. (2009):^[3]

Below is a cladogram from Kammerer et al. (2011):^[4]

See also

• Theriodont
• Dinocephalia
• Biarmosuchians
• Evolution of mammals

References