| Epicynodontia Temporal range: Late Permian-Present,
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|---|---|
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| Skeleton of Thrinaxodon liorhinus, a basal epicynodont | |
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| Sperm whale, a modern-day epicynodont | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Synapsida |
| Clade: | Therapsida |
| Clade: | Cynodontia |
| Clade: | Epicynodontia Hopson & Kitching, 2001 |
| Subgroups | |
Epicynodontia is a clade of cynodont therapsids that includes most cynodonts, such as galesaurids, thrinaxodontids, and Eucynodontia (including mammals). 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 Pusch et al. (2023) showing one hypothesis of cynodont relationships:[2]
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- ^ 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.
- ^ Pusch, L. C.; Kammerer, C. F.; Fernandez, V.; Fröbisch, J. (2023). "Cranial anatomy of Nythosaurus larvatus Owen, 1876, an Early Triassic cynodont preserving a natural endocast". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 42 (3): e2174441. doi:10.1080/02724634.2023.2174441. S2CID 257419409.