Tetracynodon

Name: Tetracynodon.
Phonetic: Tet-ra-cy-no-don.
Named By: Broom & Robinson‭ ‬-‭ ‬1948.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Synapsida,‭ ‬Therapsida,‭ ‬Therocephalia,‭ ‬Lycideopidae.
Species: T.‭ ‬tenuis‭ (‬type‭)‬,‭ ‬T.‭ ‬darti.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Unavailable.
Known locations: South Africa‭ ‬-‭ ‬Katberg Formation,‭ ‬Normandien Formation.
Time period: Late Permian to the Induan of the Triassic.
Fossil representation: Several individuals.

       Tetracynodon is a genus of therocephalian therapsid that is noted as having lived through‭ ‬the Permian/Triassic extinction event,‭ ‬something that was probably the most dramatic extinction level event recorded in our planets history,‭ ‬even more devastating than the extinction that killed off the dinosaurs.‭ ‬One thing of note is that the Permian species of Tetracynodon were slightly larger than the species that lived in the Triassic.‭ ‬This is probably because the extinction event that marked the end of the Permian would have greatly reduced the amount of plants and prey animals,‭ ‬resulting in a scarcity of food across the board.‭ ‬By growing smaller,‭ ‬less food was needed to live,‭ ‬and so a greater chance of survival was attained at a time that saw other animals unable to adapt to the change‭ ‬dying out.

Further reading
-‭ ‬Note sur une novelle espece de Scaloposauridae.‭ [‬Note on a new species of Scaloposauridae‭]‬.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Palaeontologia Africana‭ ‬8:13-36.‭ ‬-‭ ‬D.‭ ‬Sigogneau‭ ‬-‭ ‬1963.
-‭ ‬A new therocephalian from the Cistecephalus Assemblage Zone of South Africa and new information on therocephalian systematics.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology‭ ‬28‭ (‬3,‭ ‬suppl.‭)‬:‭ ‬98A‭–‬99A.‭ ‬-‭ ‬C.‭ ‬Kammerer‭ ‬-‭ ‬2008.
-‭ ‬Reassessment of the morphology and paleobiology of the therocephalian Tetracynodon darti‭ (‬Therapsida‭)‬,‭ ‬and the phylogenetic relationships of Baurioidea.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology‭ ‬32‭ (‬5‭)‬:‭ ‬1113.‭ ‬-‭ ‬T.‭ ‬Sigurdsen,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬K.‭ ‬Huttenlocker‭ ‬-‭ ‬S.‭ ‬P.‭ ‬Modesto,‭ ‬T.‭ ‬B.‭ ‬Rowe‭ & ‬R.‭ ‬Damiani‭ ‬-‭ ‬2012.



----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Random favourites