Traversodontidae
Traversodontidae | |
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Life restoration of Siriusgnathus | |
Skull of Exaeretodon | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Synapsida |
Clade: | Therapsida |
Clade: | Cynodontia |
Clade: | † Neogomphodontia
|
Family: | †Traversodontidae von Huene, 1936 |
Subgroups[1] | |
Traversodontidae is an
Description
Traversodonts are members of
Traversodonts have relatively short skulls. The snout is much narrower than the back of the skull. The tip of the snout is wider than the middle, as it constricts behind the large canines. The tooth rows of the upper jaws are inset while the
Phylogeny
Traversodontidae belongs to a large clade of cynodonts called
Paleobiology
While most traversodonts were relatively large cynodonts, particularly Scalenodontoides with extrapolated 60cm skull making it potentially the largest nonmammalian cynodont,[3] some Late Triassic European forms like Maubeugia and Habayia were very small. These traversodonts lived during the Rhaetian stage of the latest Triassic when rising sea levels divided western Europe into an island archipelago. Traversodontids on these islands likely became smaller as a result of insular dwarfism.[4]
See also
References
- Much of this information comes from Traversodontidae