Kayentatherium is a genus of tritylodont

Tritylodontidae

Tritylodontids were small to medium-sized, highly specialized and extremely mammal-like cynodonts. They were the last family of the non-mammalian synapsids. One of the last cynodont lines to appear, the Tritylodontidae descended from a Cynognathus-like cynodont...

, historically referred to as "mammal-like" reptiles. It is one of three tritylodonts from the Kayenta Formation

Kayenta Formation

The Kayenta Formation is a geologic layer in the Glen Canyon Group that is spread across the Colorado Plateau province of the United States, including northern Arizona, northwest Colorado, Nevada, and Utah. This rock formation is particularly prominent in southeastern Utah, where it is seen in the...

 of northern Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Description

Kayentatherium means "Kayenta (Formation) Beast", and is named for the geological formation in which it was found. Kayentatherium is known from several specimens. It had a skull approximately 10 centimetre in length. The species name honors paleontologist Samuel Welles, who worked with the University of California Museum of Paleontology

University of California Museum of Paleontology

The University of California Museum of Paleontology is a paleontology museum located on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley....

 in much of the pioneering work on the paleontology of the Kayenta Formation.

See also

• Dinnebitodon
  Dinnebitodon
  Dinnebitodon was an advanced herbivorous cynodont of the early Jurassic period. It has only been found in the Kayenta Formation in northeastern Arizona. It closely resembles the related genus Kayentatherium from the same formation...
  
  
• Oligokyphus
  Oligokyphus
  Oligokyphus was an advanced herbivorous cynodont of the late Triassic to early Jurassic periods. Originally considered to be an early mammal, it is now classified as a synapsid because Oligokyphus does not have the mammalian jaw attachments and it retains a vestigial joint between the quadrate...
  
  
• Tritylodontidae
  Tritylodontidae
  Tritylodontids were small to medium-sized, highly specialized and extremely mammal-like cynodonts. They were the last family of the non-mammalian synapsids. One of the last cynodont lines to appear, the Tritylodontidae descended from a Cynognathus-like cynodont...