The Late Triassic Record of Cynodonts: Time of Innovations in the Mammalian Lineage

Chapter
First Online:
Part of the Topics in Geobiology book series (TGBI, volume 46)

Abstract

The Triassic period witnessed a great diversification of lineages, recovering from one of the worst extinction events known in Earth’s history. Therapsids, the lineage that includes mammals as the only living members, enjoyed remarkable success during the Triassic. This clade includes the Late Permian to Early Cretaceous non-mammaliaform cynodonts, represented by a paraphyletic array of taxa successively more closely related to mammaliaforms (considered as basal mammals by several palaeontologists). In the Middle Triassic, cynodonts are represented by numerous taxa that thrived mostly in Gondwana, whereas only one taxon, Nanogomphodon, has been registered in Laurasia. Cynodont diversity during this time interval is mainly composed of gomphodonts, featuring bucco-lingually expanded postcanines, whereas the members of their sister-group, the mostly sectorial-toothed probainognathians, are very scarce. On the contrary, Early Jurassic non-mammaliaform cynodonts are most abundant in Laurasia (although also present in Gondwana) and only represented by probainognathians, particularly the sectorial-toothed tritheledontids and the ubiquitous herbivorous tritylodontids. The Late Triassic thus constitutes a pivotal time lapse, marked by an expansion of the geographical distribution and diversification of cynodonts. During this time, cynodont assemblages include representatives of old and new lineages and the first mammaliaforms are documented. This contribution presents a review of the diversity and geographic distribution of Late Triassic to Early Jurassic cynodonts, and summarizes the main morphologies represented in the lineage, including Mammaliaformes, a key group in our understanding of the early evolution of mammals.

Keywords

Cynodontia Mammaliaformes Late Triassic Traversodontidae Probainognathia Tritylodontidae Tritheledontidae Diversity 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

This research was possible through funds provided by the National Research Foundation of South Africa to FA, PICT 2013-2701 and PIP 11220150100760CO to LCG, and PICT 2014-1921 to V. Krapovicas. We are grateful to Lawrence Tanner for the invitation to participate in this volume. Curators and collection managers allowed access to fossil collections. Lucinda Backwell helped with language correction. Reviews by Spencer Lucas and Hans-Dieter Sues have been very helpful. Christophe Hendrickx and Zhe-Xi Luo provided digital photos of specimens. Blair McPhee generously checked the list of Late Triassic-Early Jurassic dinosauromorphs compiled by FA. This is LCG’s R-221 contribution to the IDEAN.

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© Springer International Publishing AG 2018

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Unidad Ejecutora LilloCONICET-Fundación Miguel LilloTucumánArgentina
  2. 2.Evolutionary Studies InstituteUniversity of the WitwatersrandJohannesburgSouth Africa
  3. 3.Departamento de Ciencias Geológicas, FCEyNInstituto de Estudios Andinos “Don Pablo Groeber”, IDEAN (Universidad de Buenos Aires-CONICET)Buenos AiresArgentina

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