Thrinaxodon
Sign in to saveThrinaxodon is an extinct genus of cynodonts which lived in what are now South Africa and Antarctica during the Early Triassic. The genus contains a single species, T. liorhinus.
Article
14 sectionsContents
- Description
- Skull
- Dentition
- Histology
- Discovery and naming
- Classification
- Palaeobiology
- Palaeoecology
- Ontogeny
- Posture
- Burrowing
- See also
- References
- Further reading
Thrinaxodon is an extinct genus of cynodonts which lived in what are now South Africa and Antarctica during the Early Triassic. The genus contains a single species, T. liorhinus.
Similar to other therapsids, Thrinaxodon adopted a semi-sprawling posture, an intermediary form between the sprawling position of basal tetrapods and the more upright posture present in current mammals. Thrinaxodon is prevalent in the fossil record, and one of the specimens represent the oldest known record of burrowing behavior among cynodonts.