Chiniquodon

Chiniquodon
Temporal range: Middle Triassic
Fossil of Chiniquodon theotonicus (previously called Belesodon magnificus) in the Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Order: Therapsida
Suborder: Cynodontia
Family: †Chiniquodontidae
Genus: †Chiniquodon
von Huene, 1936
Species

C. brasilensis
C. kalanoro
C. sanjuanensis
C. theotonicus

Synonyms
  • Belesodon von Huene, 1936

Chiniquodon is a genus of carnivorous cynodont, which lived during the early Late Triassic in South America. Chiniquodon is closely related to a contemporary genus, Probelesodon, and close to the ancestry of mammals.
Other contemporaries included early dinosaurs. As both groups filled a similar ecological niche, fairly large therapsid hunters such as Chiniquodon may have been outcompeted by dinosaurs.

Species

Chiniquodon fossil

Chiniquodon brasilensis

Remarks: A dog-sized predator, with a skull-length of about 10 cm. This species may not have been formally published.

Chiniquodon sanjuanensis[1]

This skull was reassigned to this genus in 2002.[2] It's differentiated from Chiniquodon theotonicus because of its teeth and the shape of the zygomatic process.

Chiniquodon theotonicus

This species is known from a number of skulls. The holotype is in the paleontological collection at Tübingen University, Germany.

Chiniquodon kalanoro[3]

This species is known from a mandible (holotype UA 10607).

References

  1. ↑ Ricardo N. Martinez & Catherine A. Forster (June 1996). "The skull of Probelesodon sanjuanensis, sp. nov., from the Late Triassic Ischigualasto Formation of Argentina". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 16 (2): 285–291. doi:10.1080/02724634.1996.10011315.
  2. ↑ Abdala, F. & Giannini, N. P. (2002). "Chiniquodontid cynodonts: systematic and morphometric considerations". Palaeontology 45 (6): 1151–1170. doi:10.1111/1475-4983.00280.
  3. ↑ Christian F. Kammerer; John J. Flynn; Lovasoa Ranivoharimanana; André R. Wyss (2010). "The first record of a probainognathian (Cynodontia: Chiniquodontidae) from the Triassic of Madagascar". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30 (6): 1889–1894. doi:10.1080/02724634.2010.520784.