Jan 25, 2025
"The advanced paramammals, the theraspids, evolved some 50 million years after the early flesh eaters. Giant lumbering plant eaters such as Moschops were forerunners of dicynodonts such as Lystrosaurus and Dinodontosaurus. Fierce flesh eaters such as Titanosuchus were ancestors of both the cynodonts (Thrinaxodon and Cynognathus) and the bauriamorphs (Bauria). Furry, warm-blooded flesh eaters, these were only a step away from being mammals. Morganucodon, the first true mammal, evolved around 200 million years ago."
From "The Evolution of the Mammals" (1978), by L.B. Halstead. This illustration by Enzo Carretti.