| Neotherapsida | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Oligokyphus | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Therapsida |
| Clade: | Eutherapsida |
| Clade: | Neotherapsida Hopson, 1999 |
| Subgroups | |
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The Neotherapsida are a clade of therapsids. The clade includes anomodonts and the more derived theriodonts, which include mammals.
In the Permian geological period, Neotherapsida lived in Germany, India, Madagascar, Niger, South Africa, Tanzania, United Kingdom, United States in Texas, and Zambia. [3]
In the Severodvinian age of the Tatarian stage of the Permian time period, Neotherapsida lived in Russia. [3] [4]
In the Triassic, Neotherapsida lived in Antarctica, Argentina, Brazil, China, Germany, Lesotho, Morocco, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Tanzania, and United States in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, North Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. [3]
In the Jurassic time period, basal Neotherapsida lived in Lesotho. [3]
In the Cretaceous period, basal Neotherapsida lived in Australia and Russia.
The Neotherapsida were named and classified as a subgroup of the clade Eutherapsida by James Allen Hopson in 1999. [3] [5]
Therapsida is a major group of eupelycosaurian synapsids that includes mammals and their ancestors. Many of the traits today seen as unique to mammals had their origin within early therapsids, including limbs that were oriented more underneath the body, as opposed to the sprawling posture of many reptiles and salamanders. The earliest fossil attributed to Therapsida used to be Tetraceratops insignis from the Lower Permian. However in 2020, a new study has found that Tetraceratops is not actually a true Therapsid, but should be considered to be a member of the more ancient Sphenacodontia from which the therapsids evolved.
The cynodonts are a clade of therapsids that first appeared in the Late Permian, and extensively diversified after the Permian–Triassic extinction event. Cynodonts had a wide variety of lifestyles, including carnivory and herbivory. Mammals are cynodonts, as are their extinct ancestors and close relatives, having evolved from advanced probainognathian cynodonts during the Late Triassic. All other cynodont lines went extinct, with the last known non-mammalian cynodont group, the Tritylodontidae having its last records in the Early Cretaceous.
Dicynodontia is a taxon of anomodont therapsids with beginnings in the mid-Permian, which were dominant in the Late Permian, survived the Permian Extinction that wiped out most other therapsids and continued on throughout the Triassic before dying out at the end of the period. Dicynodonts were herbivorous animals with two tusks, hence their name, which means 'two dog tooth'. They are also the most successful and diverse of the non-mammalian therapsids, with over 70 genera known, varying from rat- to elephant-sized.
Anomodontia is an extinct group of non-mammalian therapsids containing many species from the Permian and Triassic periods, most of which were toothless, possibly endothermic herbivores. Anomodonts were very diverse during the Middle Permian, including primitive forms like Anomocephalus and Patranomodon and groups like Venyukovioidea, Dromasauria, and Dicynodontia. Of these, only the dicynodonts survived beyond the Middle Permian. Dicynodonts became the most successful and abundant of all herbivores in the Late Permian and Triassic, filling ecological niches ranging from large browsers down to small burrowers. Few dicynodont families survived the Permian–Triassic extinction event, but one lineage evolved into large, stocky forms that remained the dominant terrestrial herbivores right until the Late Triassic, when changing conditions caused them to decline.
Biarmosuchia is an extinct clade of non-mammalian synapsids from the Permian. Biarmosuchians are the most basal group of the therapsids. They were moderately-sized, lightly-built carnivores, intermediate in form between basal sphenacodont "pelycosaurs" and more advanced therapsids. Biarmosuchians were rare components of Permian ecosystems, and the majority of species belong to the clade Burnetiamorpha, which are characterized by elaborate cranial ornamentation.
Anteosaurs are a group of large, primitive carnivorous dinocephalian therapsids with large canines and incisors and short limbs, that are known from the Middle Permian of South Africa, Russia, China, and Brazil. Some grew very large, with skulls 50–80 centimetres (20–31 in) long, and were the largest predators of their time. They died out at the end of the Middle Permian, possibly as a result of the extinction of the herbivorous Tapinocephalia on which they may have fed.
Anteosauridae is an extinct family of large carnivorous dinocephalian therapsids that are known from the Middle Permian of Asia, Africa, and South America.These animals were by far the largest predators of the Permian period, with skulls reaching 80 cm in length in adult individuals, far larger than the biggest gorgonopsian.
Therocephalia is an extinct suborder of eutheriodont therapsids from the Permian and Triassic. The therocephalians ("beast-heads") are named after their large skulls, which, along with the structure of their teeth, suggest that they were carnivores. Like other non-mammalian synapsids, therocephalians were once described as "mammal-like reptiles". Therocephalia is the group most closely related to the cynodonts, which gave rise to the mammals. This relationship takes evidence in a variety of skeletal features. The phylogeny of therocephalians has been disputed, as the monophyly of the group and the relationships of its members are unclear.
The theriodonts or Theriodontia are a major group of therapsids. They can be defined in traditional, Linnaean terms, in which case they are a suborder of synapsids that lived from the Middle Permian to the Middle Cretaceous, or in cladistic terms, in which case they include not only the traditional theriodonts but also their descendants the mammals as well.
Estemmenosuchidae is an extinct family of large, very early herbivorous therapsids that flourished during the Guadalupian period. They are distinguished by horn-like structures, probably for display or agonistic behavior. Apart from the best known genus, Estemmenosuchus, the group is poorly known. To date, their fossils are known only from the Perm region of Russia.
Dicynodon is a genus of dicynodont therapsid that flourished during the Upper Permian period. Like all dicynodonts, it was herbivorous. This animal was toothless, except for prominent tusks, hence the name. It probably cropped vegetation with a horny beak, much like a tortoise, while the tusks may have been used for digging up roots and tubers.
Patranomodon is an extinct genus belonging to the group of Anomodontia. Rubidge and Hopson named this anomodont in 1990 after discovering its skull. Patranomodon is known to have ranged in the Karoo of Southern Africa.
Dimacrodon is an extinct genus of non-mammalian synapsid from the latest Early Permian San Angelo Formation of Texas. It is distinguished by toothless, possibly beaked jaw tips, large lower canines and a thin bony crest on top of its head. Previously thought to be an anomodont therapsid related to dicynodonts, it was later found to lack any diagnostic features of anomodonts or even therapsids and instead appears to be a 'pelycosaur'-grade synapsid of uncertain classification.
Knoxosaurus is an extinct genus of non-mammalian synapsids containing the species Knoxosaurus niteckii that existed approximately 279.5 to 268 million years ago. It was named by American paleontologist Everett C. Olson in 1962 on the basis of fragmentary fossils from Middle Permian-age deposits in the San Angelo Formation of Texas in the United States. Olson placed Knoxosaurus in a new infraorder called Eotheriodontia, which he considered a transitional group between the more reptile-like "pelycosaurs" and the more mammal-like therapsids. Knoxosaurus and Olson's other eotheriodonts were later considered to be undiagnostic remains of basal synapsids, no more closely related to therapsids than are other pelycosaur-grade synapsids.
Oudenodon is an extinct genus of dicynodont. It was common throughout southern Africa during the Late Permian. Several species of Oudenodon are known. Both O. bainii, the type species, and O. grandis are known from South Africa. Specimens of O. luangwensis have been found from Zambia. One species, O. sakamenensis, is the only therapsid yet known from Madagascar. It is the type genus of the family Oudenodontidae, which includes members such as Tropidostoma.
Tetragonias is an extinct genus of non-mammalian synapsid from the Anisian Manda Beds of Tanzania. Tetra- means “four,” and goni- means “angle,” referencing the square shape of the Tetragonias skull when viewed dorsally. Not to be confused with Tetragonia,Tetragonias were dicynodont anomodonts discovered in the late 1960s by paleontologist A. R. I. Cruickshank in the Manda Formation.
Lystrosauridae is a family of dicynodont therapsids from the Permian and Triassic time periods. It includes two genera, Lystrosaurus and Kwazulusaurus. Kwazulusaurus includes a single species, K. shakai, from the Late Permian of South Africa and Lystrosaurus includes many species from the Late Permian and Early Triassic of South Africa, India, and Antarctica.
Dicynodontoidea is an infraorder of dicynodont therapsids that includes the famous dicynodont Dicynodon, Lystrosaurus and the Triassic Kannemeyeriiformes, as well as numerous other closely related species. The name was coined by American paleontologist Everett C. Olson in 1941 as an infraorder, despite using the typical "-oidea" suffix of superfamilies, and was later redefined under a phylogenetic context in 2009 by paleontologist Christian F. Kammerer.
Bidentalia is a group of dicynodont therapsids. Bidentalia was one of the first names used to describe dicynodonts; the group was established in 1876, while the name "bidentals" dates back as far as 1845. With the increasing prominence of phylogenetics, the group was redefined as a clade in 2009. Bidentalia is now considered a stem-based taxon that includes all taxa more closely related to Aulacephalodon bainii and Dicynodon lacerticeps than Emydops arctatus.
The Eutheriodontia are a clade of therapsids that includes therocephalians and cynodonts.
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