Epicynodontia Explained

Epicynodontia is a clade of cynodont therapsids that includes most cynodonts, such as galesaurids, thrinaxodontids, and Eucynodontia (including mammals). It was erected as a stem-based taxon by Hopson and Kitching (2001) and defined as the most inclusive clade containing Mammalia and excluding Procynosuchus, a Late Permian genus that is one of the most basal cynodonts.^[1]

Below is a cladogram from Pusch et al. (2023) showing one hypothesis of cynodont relationships:^[2]

Notes and References

1. Hopson . J.A. . Kitching, J.W. . 2001 . A probainognathian cynodont from South Africa and the phylogeny of nonmammalian cynodonts . Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology . 156 . 1 . 5–35 .
2. Pusch . L. C. . Kammerer . C. F. . Fernandez . V. . Fröbisch . J. . Cranial anatomy of Nythosaurus larvatus Owen, 1876, an Early Triassic cynodont preserving a natural endocast . Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 2023 . 42 . 3 . e2174441 . 10.1080/02724634.2023.2174441. 257419409 .