Epicynodontia

Epicynodontia
Temporal range: Late Permian–Present
Skeleton of Thrinaxodon liorhinus, a basal epicynodont
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Order: Therapsida
Clade: Eutheriodontia
Suborder: Cynodontia
Clade: Epicynodontia
Hopson and Kitching, 2001

Epicynodontia is a clade of cynodont therapsids that includes most cynodonts, including galesaurids, thrinaxodontids, and Eucynodontia. It was erected as a stem-based taxon by Hopson and Kitching (2001) and defined as the most inclusive clade containing Mammalia and excluding Procynosuchus, a Late Permian genus that is one of the most basal cynodonts.[1]

Below is a cladogram from Ruta, Botha-Brink, Mitchell and Benton (2013) showing one hypothesis of cynodont relationships:[2]

Cynodontia 

Charassognathus


Dvinia

Procynosuchus



Epicynodontia

Cynosaurus
Galesauridae

Galesaurus

Progalesaurus
Thrinaxodontidae

Nanictosaurus

Thrinaxodon

Platycraniellus


Eucynodontia

Cynognathia

Probainognathia (including mammals)









References

  1. ↑ Hopson, J.A.; Kitching, J.W. (2001). "A probainognathian cynodont from South Africa and the phylogeny of nonmammalian cynodonts". Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 156 (1): 5–35.
  2. ↑ Ruta, M.; Botha-Brink, J.; Mitchell, S. A.; Benton, M. J. (2013). "The radiation of cynodonts and the ground plan of mammalian morphological diversity". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 280 (1769): 20131865. doi:10.1098/rspb.2013.1865.