Kingdom Animalia Order Therapsida Infraorder Eucynodontia Higher classification Eucynodontia | Phylum Chordata Suborder Cynodontia Parvorder Probainognathia | |
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Lower classifications Mammal, Opossum, Sloth, Bear, Squirrel | ||
The probainognathians are members of one of the two major clades of the infraorder Eucynodontia, the other being Cynognathians. The earliest forms were carnivorous and insectivorous, though some species eventually also evolved herbivorous traits. The earliest and most basal Probainognathian is Lumkuia, from South Africa. Three groups survived the extinction at the end of Triassic; the Tritheledontidae and Tritylodontidae, who both survived until the Jurassic - the latter possibly even into the Cretaceous (Xenocretosuchus), and Mammaliaformes, who gave rise to the mammals.
Contents
Taxonomy
Phylogeny
Below is a cladogram from Ruta, Botha-Brink, Mitchell and Benton (2013) showing one hypothesis of cynodont relationships:
References
Probainognathia Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA