Tetracynodon

Tetracynodon
Temporal range: Late Permian - Early Triassic
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Clade: Therapsida
Clade: Therocephalia
Family: Lycideopidae
Genus: Tetracynodon
Broom and Robinson, 1948
Species
  • T. tenuis Broom and Robinson, 1948
  • T. darti Sigogneau, 1963

Tetracynodon is an extinct genus of therocephalian. Fossils of Tetracynodon have been found in the Karoo Basin of South Africa. Two species are known: the type species T. tenuis from the Late Permian and the species T. darti from the Early Triassic. Both species were small-bodied and probably fed on insects and small vertebrates. Although Tetracynodon is more closely related to mammals than to reptiles, its braincase is very primitive and more resembles that of modern amphibians and reptiles than of mammals.[1]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference SHMRD12 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).