In Depth
As far as cynodonts go Tritylodon was fairly unremarkable and very similar to the generic form of other cynodonts. Tritylodon had a round body and short limbs, adaptations for a burrowing lifestyle. Furthermore Tritylodon is noted for having enlarged incisor teeth which still would have been partly visible when the mouth was closed, and like relative tritylodontid genera, Tritylodon is thought to have been herbivorous.
At the time of writing Tritylodon is only known from South Africa and Lesotho. At least one specimen of Tritylodon is known from the Lower Elliot Formation, placing the earliest appearance of the genus in the late Triassic, while most of the known specimens of Tritylodon are currently known from the Upper Elliot Formation which suggests that the genus became far more widespread during the early Jurassic. Additional remains possibly from the Sinemurian and Pliensbachian further show that as a genus Tritylodon was quite successful.
Further Reading
- On the skull and dentition of a Triassic mammal (Tritylodon long�vus, Owen) from South Africa. - Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society 40:146-152. - Ricahrd Owen - 1884. - Sedimentology and vertebrate taphonomy of the Tritylodon Acme Zone: A reworked palaeosol in the Lower Jurassic Elliot Formation, Karoo Supergroup, South Africa. - Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 131: 29–50. - R. Smith & J. Kitching - 1997.
