"Hahnia"obliqua Temporal range: | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Synapsida |
Clade: | Therapsida |
Clade: | Cynodontia |
Family: | incertae sedis |
Species: | † "Hahnia" obliqua Godefroit & Battail, 1997 |
Binomial name | |
"Hahnia"obliqua | |
"Hahnia" obliqua is a poorly known species of meat-eating stem-mammals (cynodonts) that lived during the Upper Triassic in Europe. It is based on tiny, isolated teeth, and its affinities with other cynodonts are unclear. [1] The generic name is not valid, thus the quotation marks. The name Hahnia has already been used for a spider. The authors are aware of this, and will doubtless come up with a new name sometime in the future.
The genus "Hahnia" ("for Hahn") was named by Pascal Godefroit and Bernard Battail in 1997 based on a single species.
Fossil remains of the species "Hahnia" obliqua have been found in the Norian (late) - Rhaetian (early) (Upper Triassic)-age strata of Saint-Nicolas-de-Port in France. Apart from not yet having a proper name, these teeth look rather boring. The crown slopes backwards and has three cusps, though that's more apparent when seen from above than it is from the side. The largest cusp, the middle one, has a "somewhat blunt" apex. Its two colleagues, which "are not very well separated from the main cusp", are "very blunt", (quotes from Godfroit & Battauk 1997, p. 588). "There is no constriction between the crown and the root."
Boring looking or not, these were nevertheless effective for cutting up small portions of prey. The authors discuss similarities with teeth of galesaurids (something like forerunners of the eucynodonts), Cynognathus , chiniquodontids, tritheledontids, dromatheriids and various other small cynodonts of the European Upper Triassic; They are all carnivores of one size or another. However, as there are also clear differences to the tiny teeth of "Hahnia", the authors plump for Cynodontia incertae sedis (aka of some kind or other).
Lepagia is an extinct genus of poorly known carnivorous cynodonts, which lived during the Upper Triassic in Europe. Partly due to the paucity of remains the precise affinities of this genus are unclear. It seems reasonably closely related to Probainognathus, a somewhat earlier inhabitant of South America. The genus Lepagia was named by Hahn, Wild and Wouters in 1987 based on a single species.
Megazostrodon is an extinct genus of basal mammaliaforms belonging to the order Morganucodonta. It is approximately 200 million years old. Two species are known: M. rudnerae from the Early Jurassic of Lesotho and South Africa, and M. chenali from the Late Triassic of France.
Thrinaxodon is an extinct genus of cynodonts, including the species T. liorhinus which lived in what are now South Africa and Antarctica during the Early Triassic. Thrinaxodon lived just after the Permian–Triassic mass extinction event, its survival during the extinction may have been due to its burrowing habits.
Galesaurus is an extinct genus of carnivorous cynodont therapsid that lived between the Induan and the Olenekian stages of the Early Triassic in what is now South Africa. It was incorrectly classified as a dinosaur by Sir Richard Owen in 1859.
Traversodontidae is an extinct family of herbivorous cynodonts. Traversodonts were primarily Gondwanan, with many species known from Africa and South America. Recently, traversodonts have also been found from Europe and North America. Traversodonts first appeared in the Middle Triassic and diversified in the Late Triassic before going extinct at the end of the epoch. The family Traversodontidae was erected by Friedrich von Huene in 1936 for cynodonts first found in São Pedro do Sul in Paleorrota, Brazil.
Prozostrodon is an extinct genus of probainognathian cynodonts that was closely related to mammals. The remains were found in Brazil and are dated to the Carnian age of the Late Triassic. The holotype has an estimated skull length of 6.7 centimetres (2.6 in), indicating that the whole animal may have been the size of a cat. The teeth were typical of advanced cynodonts, and the animal was probably a carnivore hunting reptiles and other small prey.
Tricuspes is an extinct genus of cynodonts that lived in what would be Europe during the Triassic from 203.6 to 199.6 mya, existing for approximately 4 million years. Three species are known: Tricuspes tubingensis, Tricuspes sigogneauae and Tricuspes tapeinodon, which are all from the Late Triassic (Rhaetian) period in continental Europe.
Kuehneotherium is an early mammaliaform genus, previously considered a holothere, that lived during the Late Triassic-Early Jurassic Epochs and is characterized by reversed-triangle pattern of molar cusps. Although many fossils have been found, the fossils are limited to teeth, dental fragments, and mandible fragments. The genus includes Kuehneotherium praecursoris and all related species. It was first named and described by Doris M. Kermack, K. A. Kermack, and Frances Mussett in November 1967. The family Kuehneotheriidae and the genus Kuehneotherium were created to house the single species Kuehneotherium praecursoris. Modeling based upon a comparison of the Kuehneotherium jaw with other mammaliaforms indicates it was about the size of a modern-day shrew between 4 and 5.5 g at adulthood.
Brasilodon is an extinct genus of small, mammal-like cynodonts that lived in what is now Brazil during the Norian age of the Late Triassic epoch, about 225.42 million years ago. While no complete skeletons have been found, the length of Brasilodon has been estimated at 12 centimetres (4.7 in). Its dentition shows that it was most likely an insectivore. The genus is monotypic, containing only the species B. quadrangularis. Brasilodon belongs to the family Brasilodontidae, whose members were some of the closest relatives of mammals, the only cynodonts alive today. Two other brasilodontid genera, Brasilitherium and Minicynodon, are now considered to be junior synonyms of Brasilodon.
Progalesaurus is an extinct genus of galesaurid cynodont from the early Triassic. Progalesaurus is known from a single fossil of the species Progalesaurus lootsbergensis, found in the Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone of the Balfour Formation. Close relatives of Progalesaurus, other galesaurids, include Galesaurus and Cynosaurus. Galesaurids appeared just before the Permian-Triassic extinction event, and disappeared from the fossil record in the Middle-Triassic.
Arctotraversodon is an extinct genus of traversodontid cynodonts from the Late Triassic of Canada. Fossils first described from the Wolfville Formation in Nova Scotia in 1984 represented the first known traversodontid from North America. The type and only species is A. plemmyridon and is represented by teeth and several dentary bones.
Maubeugia is an extinct genus of traversodontid cynodonts from the Late Triassic of France. Isolated postcanine teeth are known from Saint-Nicolas-de-Port in northeastern France. The type species M. lotharingica was named in 1997. Many other cynodont teeth were found alongside those of Maubeugia, including those of dromatheriids, probainognathids, and other traversodontids. The size of its teeth indicates that Maubeugia was a dwarf traversodontid. The deposit in which the teeth were found indicates that it lived along the shoreline of an ocean.
Habayia is an extinct genus of traversodontid cynodonts from the Late Triassic of Belgium. A single postcanine tooth was found in Habay-la-Vieille in southern Belgium. Based on the size of the tooth, Habayia was very small. Habayia lived during the Rhaetian stage of the Late Triassic at a time when western Europe was an island archipelago due to high sea levels. The small size of Habayia may be a result of insular dwarfism.
Rosieria is an extinct genus of dwarf cynodonts from the Late Triassic of France. It belongs to the family Traversodontidae, a herbivorous group known mainly from Gondwana. The type species R. delsatei was named in 1997 on the basis of a few isolated postcanine teeth found in Saint-Nicolas-de-Port in northeastern France. These teeth were found alongside the teeth of many other cynodonts, including those of Hahnia, Gaumia, and Maubeugia. The small size of the teeth in Saint-Nicolas-de-Port suggest R. delsatei and other species were dwarf cynodonts. Most teeth in the locality belong to insectivores like dromatheriids, while those of R. delsatei and other herbivorous cynodonts are very rare.
Blattoidealestes is an extinct genus of therocephalian therapsid from the Middle Permian of South Africa. The type species Blattoidealestes gracilis was named by South African paleontologist Lieuwe Dirk Boonstra from the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone in 1954. Dating back to the Middle Permian, Blattoidealestes is one of the oldest therocephalians. It is similar in appearance to the small therocephalian Perplexisaurus from Russia, and may be closely related.
Cricodon is an extinct genus of trirachodontid cynodonts that lived during the Early Triassic and Middle Triassic periods of Africa. A. W. Crompton named Cricodon based on the ring-like arrangement of the cuspules on the crown of a typical postcanine tooth. The epithet of the type species, C. metabolus, indicates the change in structure of certain postcanines resulting from replacement.
Alemoatherium is an extinct genus of prozostrodontian cynodont which lived in the Late Triassic of Brazil. It contains a single species, A. huebneri, named in 2017 by Agustín Martinelli and colleagues. The genus is based on UFSM 11579b, a left lower jaw (dentary) found in the Alemoa Member of the Santa Maria Formation, preserving the late Carnian-age Hyperodapedon Assemblage Zone. Alemoatherium was among the smallest species of cynodonts found in the rich synapsid fauna of the Santa Maria Formation. Its blade-like four-cusped postcanine teeth show many similarities with those of dromatheriids, an obscure group of early prozostrodontians.
Kraterokheirodon is an extinct genus of enigmatic tetrapod, that was possibly an amniote, from the Late Triassic Chinle Formation of Arizona. The type and only species is K. colberti. Although it is known only from two large teeth, their shape is so unlike those of any other animal that Kraterokheirodon cannot definitively be classified under any known group of tetrapods. Its discovery also indicates that our understanding of Late Triassic tetrapod diversity is still incomplete, with Kraterokheirodon representing an otherwise unknown lineage of large tetrapod in western North America.
Dromatheriidae is an extinct family of prozostrodontian cynodonts, closely related to mammals. Members of the family are known from the Late Triassic of India, Europe and North America. Apart from a few jaw fragments, dromatheriids are mainly known from their sectorial (flesh-slicing) postcanine teeth. The teeth were fairly typical among early prozostrodontians, as they were labiolingually compressed, with a single root and crown hosting a longitudinal row of sharp cusps. Dromatheriids in particular have a very narrow and symmetrical crown without a prominent cingulum.
Bonacynodon is an extinct genus of cynodonts that lived in what is now southern Brazil during the Triassic period. The genus is monotypic, containing only the type species Bonacynodon schultzi. B. schultzi is known from two specimens, consisting of two partial skulls and some badly preserved parts of the postcranium. Both specimens were recovered from the Pinheiros-Chiniquá Sequence, part of the Santa Maria Supersequence of the Paraná Basin. This sequence preserves a faunal association known as the Dinodontosaurus Assemblage Zone, which contains numerous other species of cynodonts, dicynodonts and reptiles. Bonacynodon was a small, likely insectivorous cynodont, whose length has been estimated at around 30 centimetres (12 in). It can be distinguished from other cynodonts by its large, serrated (saw-like) canine teeth. Together with the genus Probainognathus of Argentina, it made up the family Probainognathidae, one of the earliest-diverging lineages of the clade Probainognathia. It was a fairly close relative of mammals, the only group of cynodonts alive today.