Chiniquodontoidea
Encyclopedia
Chiniquodontoidea is a clade
of cynodont
s that is defined as including all probainognathia
ns closer to mammals than to Probainognathus
which is the more primitive form in Probainognathia.
To Chiniquodontoidea pertain, beside families Chiniquodontidae
, Therioherpetidae
, Tritheledontidae, and the more diverse clade Mammaliaformes
, an array of basal forms enumerated in the classification scheme below, following works by Rubidge & Sidor (2001), Martinelli et al. (2005) and Sidor & Hancox (2006).
Clade
A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...
of cynodont
Cynodont
Cynodontia or cynodonts are a taxon of therapsids which first appeared in the Late Permian and were eventually distributed throughout all seven continents by the Early Triassic . This clade includes modern mammals and their extinct close relatives. They were one of the most diverse groups of...
s that is defined as including all probainognathia
Probainognathia
The Probainognathians are one of the two major clades of the infraorder Eucynodontia, the other being Cynognathians. They were mostly carnivorous, though some species may have evolved omnivorous traits. The Probainognathia form into four groups: Probainognathidae, Chiniquodontidae,...
ns closer to mammals than to Probainognathus
Probainognathus
Probainognathus is a genus of meat-eating mammal-like reptile that lived during the lower Upper Triassic of South America. This creature had an incipient squamosal-dentary jaw-cranium joint, which is a clearly mammalian anatomical feature. It was at the very least closely related to the family of...
which is the more primitive form in Probainognathia.
To Chiniquodontoidea pertain, beside families Chiniquodontidae
Chiniquodontidae
Chiniquodontidae is a family of meat-eating advanced mammal-like reptiles that lived during the Upper Triassic of South America and perhaps Europe. A further possible representative, Aleodon, has been identified from the Middle Triassic of Africa...
, Therioherpetidae
Therioherpetidae
Therioherpetidae are based on Therioherpeton Cargnin, a small cynodont who lived in the Triassic and was collected in Santa Maria, Santa Maria Formation, the Geopark of Paleorrota, Brazil. This family consists of small carnivores...
, Tritheledontidae, and the more diverse clade Mammaliaformes
Mammaliaformes
Mammaliaformes is a clade that contains the mammals and their closest extinct relatives. Phylogenetically, it is defined as a clade including the most recent common ancestor of Sinoconodon, morganuconodonts, docodonts, Monotremata, Marsupialia, Placentalia, extinct members of this clade, and all...
, an array of basal forms enumerated in the classification scheme below, following works by Rubidge & Sidor (2001), Martinelli et al. (2005) and Sidor & Hancox (2006).