What is Cynodont?
{{Taxobox | name = Cynodont | fossil_range = [[Permian]] – [[Upper Triassic]] | subordo = '''Cynodontia''' | image = Belesodon magnificus.JPG | image_width = 280px | image_caption = ''Belesodon'' <br/>with massive attachments for jaw muscles | regnum = [[Animal]] | classis = [[Synapsida]] | ordo = [[Therapsida]] | subdivision_ranks = | subdivision = }} [[File:Kayentatheriumskull.jpg|thumb|right|230px|Cast of the skull of ''Kayentatherium''.<ref name=kermack-1982>Kermack D. 1982. A new tritylodont from the Kayenta Formation of Arizona. ''Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society'', '''76''' 1-17.</ref><ref name=sues-2006>Sues, Hans-Dieter & F.A. Jenkins 2006. The postcranial skeleton of ''Kayentatherium wellesi'' from the Lower Jurassic Kayenta Formation of Arizona and the phylogenetic significance of postcranial features in tritylodontid cynodonts. In: Carrano Matthew T; Gaudin T.J; Blob R.W. and Wible J.R., ''Amniote Paleobiology: perspectivers on the evolution of mammals, birds, and reptiles''. University of Chicago Press. 114-152</ref> It had a skull about 10cm (4 inches) in length.]] The '''Cynodonts''' are a sub-order of the [[Therapsid]]a. Cynodonts, one of the most diverse groups of therapsids, are named after their dog-like teeth. The [[taxon]] is a [[clade]] which includes modern [[mammal]]s and their [[extinct]] close relatives, the [[Mammaliaformes]]. The cynodonts lived in all [[continent]]s, and their [[fossil]] record begins in the Upper [[Permian]] 256 million years ago.<ref>[http://paleodb.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=checkTaxonInfo&taxon_no=39168&is_real_user=1 PaleoBiology Database: ''Cynodontia'', basic info]</ref> The extinct members of the group were victims of the [[End-Triassic extinction event]], but the line that led to the mammals survived.<ref>Ruta, M., Botha-Brink, J., Mitchell, S.A., Benton, M.J. 2013. The radiation of cynodonts and the ground plan of mammalian morphological diversity Proceedings of the Royal Society B 280: 20131865. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2013.1865 Reference page.