What are Cynognathus fossils?
What are Cynognathus fossils?
Cynognathus, genus of extinct advanced therapsids (mammals and their relatives) found as fossils in Lower Triassic deposits (251 million to 245.9 million years ago) in South Africa and South America. The teeth were regionally specialized on the jaw into different forms, as in mammals.
What did Cynognathus eat?
Kannemeyeria
Cynognathus/Eats
Diet and Teeth: Cynognathus was a fast-moving carnivore (a meat-eater). It had powerful jaws and dog-like teeth, including sharp incisors, long canines, and shearing cheek teeth. This predator hunted herbivores like Kannemeyeria (another early therapsid) in packs.
Why is the Cynognathus important?
Cynognathus was a mammal-like reptile that lived primarily on southern hemisphere continents during the early Triassic Period. The distribution of its fossils was one line of evidence Alfred Wegener used in support of his ideas about the existence of a supercontinent that had split apart to form our modern continents.
What is the meaning of Cynognathus?
Definition of Cynognathus : a genus of large carnivorous therapsid reptiles (suborder Theriodontia) that greatly resembled mammals in form, were presumably near the direct ancestral line of the true mammals, and are known chiefly from remains found in the Karroo formation of the Triassic.
What is the Cynognathus habitat?
Fossils have been found in the Karoo, the Puesto Viejo Formation, Fremouw Formation, in South Africa/Lesotho, Argentina and Antarctica. Cynognathus lived between the Anisian and the Ladinian (Middle Triassic). This genus forms a Cynognathus Assemblage Zone in the Beaufort Group of the Karoo Supergroup.
Can the Cynognathus swim?
Cynognathus and Lystrosaurus were land reptiles and were unable to swim. Grooves and rock deposits left by ancient glaciers are found today on different continents very close to the equator. This would indicate that the glaciers either formed in the middle of the ocean and/or covered most of the Earth.
Who discovered the Cynognathus?
Given its wide distribution, you may be surprised to learn that the genus Cynognathus includes only one valid species, C. crateronotus, named by the English paleontologist Harry Seeley in 1895.
How long did Cynognathus live on Earth?
Take a look at some unusual living and extinct mammals! Cynognathus was an early relative of mammals. It lived about 235-250 million years ago. Cat-sized Repenomamus was the largest known mammal from the Mesozoic “Age of Dinosaurs.”
How long did the Cynognathus live for?
This suggests that South America and Africa were joined during the Early Permian. Cynognathus is an extinct mammal-like reptile. The name literally means ‘dog jaw’. Cynognathus was as large as a modern wolf and lived during the early to mid Triassic period (250 to 240 million years ago).
