Cryptodontia

Cryptodontia Temporal range: Middle Permian - Late Permian
Skull of Oudenodon latirostris
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Synapsida
Clade:	Therapsida
Clade:	† Anomodontia
Clade:	† Dicynodontia
Clade:	† Bidentalia
Clade:	† Cryptodontia Owen, 1860
Subgroups
† Daqingshanodon † Keyseria † Mdomowabata † Odontocyclops † Elphidae ? † Geikiidae † Oudenodontidae † Rhachiocephalidae
Synonyms
Cryptodontidae

Cryptodontia is a group of dicynodont therapsids that includes the families Geikiidae, Oudenodontidae, and Rhachiocephalidae. It was first named in 1860 by English paleontologist Richard Owen. Owen intended Cryptodontia to be a family, and the name was later changed to "Cryptodontidae" to reflect this ranking. The name Cryptodontia was restored in 2009 when it was redefined as a larger clade containing several families of dicynodonts. ^[1]

Classification

Below is a cladogram from Kammerer et al. (2011) showing the phylogenetic placement of Cryptodontia:

Dicynodontia	Eodicynodon Pylaecephalidae Eumantellidae Endothiodontidae Therochelonia Emydopoidea Emydopidae Kingoriidae Cistecephalidae Myosauridae Bidentalia Cryptodontia Rhachiocephalidae Oudenodontidae Geikiidae Dicynodontoidea " Dicynodon " Lystrosauridae Kannemeyeriiformes Shansiodontidae Kannemeyeriidae Stahleckeriidae Dinodontosauridae

Below is a cladogram by Angielczyk and Otoo, 2025 in their description of the species Mdomowabata trilobops , depicting the interrelationships of cryptodonts in more detail. ^[2]

Bidentalia

Rastodon procurvidens Kunpania scopulusa Cryptodontia Daqingshanodon limbus Keyseria benjamini Geikiidae Idelesaurus tataricus Bulbasaurus phylloxyron Geikiinae Aulacephalodon bainii Pelanomodon moschops Geikia elginensis Geikia locusticeps Mdomowabata trilobops Odontocyclops whaitsi Rhachiocephalidae Kitchinganomodon crassus Rhachiocephalus magnus Oudenodontidae Oudenodon bainii Tropidostoma dubium Australobarbarus spp. Dicynodontoidea Elphidae Gordonia traquairi Interpresosaurus blomi Elph borealis Katumbia parringtoni other Dicynodontoidea

References

1. Kammerer, C.F.; Angielczyk, K.D. (2009). "A proposed higher taxonomy of anomodont therapsids" (PDF). Zootaxa. 2018: 1–24.
2. Angielczyk, Kenneth D.; Otoo, Benjamin K. A. (2025-08-07). "A new cryptodont dicynodont (Therapsida, Anomodontia) from the Lopingian Usili Formation, Ruhuhu Basin, Tanzania". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 45 (sup1) 2441898. Bibcode:2025JVPal..4541898A. doi:10.1080/02724634.2024.2441898. ISSN   0272-4634.