Trucidocynodon

Trucidocynodon
Temporal range: Late Triassic, 220 Ma
↓
Restoration
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Order: Therapsida
Suborder: Cynodontia
Family: †Ecteniniidae
Genus: †Trucidocynodon
Oliveira et al., 2010
Type species
†Trucidocynodon riograndensis
Oliveira et al., 2010

Trucidocynodon is an extinct, monotypic genus of cynodont from Upper Triassic of Brazil.[1] Trucidocynodon riograndensis is the only species descript for genus.

Trucidocynodon riograndensis, the sole species in Trucidocynodon, lived in what is now southern Brazil 220 million years ago. Fossils of Trucidocynodon were discovered in Santa Maria Formation outcrops in Paleorrota geopark Agudo. T. riograndensis is similar to the Ecteninion lunensis from the Upper Triassic Ischigualasto formation in Argentina.

Size

Trucidocynodon is particularly notable for its large size: based on its skull and forelimb proportions, it is thought to be comparable in size to a modern leopard. This contradicts the idea that cynodonts became less ecologically diverse due to competition from archosaurs.[2]

Limbs

Recent studies showcase that Trucidocynodon not only had erect limbs, but it also possibly had digitigrade forelimbs, being among the first synapsids to show adaptations for cursoriality, though it wasn't as specialised a runner as modern cursorial mammals like ungulates.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Oliveira, T.V.; Soares, M.B.; Schultz, C.L. (2010). "Trucidocynodon riograndensis gen. nov. et sp. nov. (Eucynodontia), a new cynodont from the Brazilian Upper Triassic (Santa Maria Formation)". Zootaxa. 2382: 1–71.
  2. ↑ Oliveira, T.V.; Soares, M.B.; Schultz, C.L. (2010). "Trucidocynodon riograndensis gen. nov. et sp. nov. (Eucynodontia), a new cynodont from the Brazilian Upper Triassic (Santa Maria Formation)". Zootaxa. 2382: 1–71.
  3. ↑ Téo Veiga, De Oliveira; Leandro Schultz, Cesar (2016). "Functional morphology and biomechanics of the cynodont Trucidocynodon riograndensis from the Triassic of Southern Brazil: Pectoral girdle and forelimb". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 61 (2): 377–386. doi:10.4202/app.00171.2015.
Triassic Period
Lower/Early Triassic Middle Triassic Upper/Late Triassic
Induan |Olenekian Anisian | Ladinian Carnian | Norian
Rhaetian


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