#cynognathus

[boobookittenartblog]

Illustration by Maurice Wilson 

[ungojirasapiente]

Middle Triassic Argentina, a pair of Cynognathus compete over who gets to eat a recently deceased Dicynodont. ------ Triasico medio, Argentina, un par de Cynognathus compiten sobre quien va a comerse un Dicynodonte muerto hace poco.

[dromaeosaurid]

"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.

[mineralsrocksandfossiltalks]

Fossil Friday: Cynognathus

Cynognathus crateronotus has been a pretty big deal in paleontology since the late 1880's but was brought to the public's attention by this gem:

(If you are somehow not aware, this is BBC's 1999 Walking with Dinosaurs. If you haven't seen it, go watch it now. It's fantastic).

While the show depicted Cynognathus living alongside Postosuchus and Coelophysis, it actually hasn't been found in North America where the pseudosuchian and dinosaur have been found. Those two are also Late Triassic animals while Cynognathus is a middle Triassic animal.

Cynognathus was first discovered by Harry Seeley in southern Africa in 1889. He also named the genus and type species. The name Cynognathus means "dog jaw" in reference to the very mammalian -looking jaw.

Cynognathus was part of the cynodont family of early therapsids, the clade which mammals belong to. It had many characteristics in common with mammals including differentiated teeth,

a secondary palate which indicates it could breathe and swallow simultaneously, a lack of belly ribs which might indicate the presence of a diaphragm and concentrations of pits and canals on the snout which could support whiskers.

However, it still retained some primitive features like multiple lower jaw bones, and semi-sprawled legs (however, recent studies of living mammals indicate that only certain groups of mammals have the upright posture we've come to associate with mammals).

Cynognathus was one of the fossils used as a piece of evidence for continental drift by Alfred Wegener as it has been found in southern Africa, Argentina, and Antarctica.

Tune in Sunday at 6pm for live stream discussion with colleagues as we talk about a large sauropodomorph from China. We will also answer a handful of questions at the end, some come prepared and we may choose you! Fossilize you later!

[whereserpentswalk]

Shoutout to Cynognathus. Closely related to mammals. Probably had fur, and possibly even whiskers. Ate dinosaurs. I feel some sort of solidarity with them because I'm also a mammal. Like, I'm proud to see my kind winning during an era where we weren't usually doing so well.

[fishsfailureson]

Cynognathus

[ildarotyrannus]

Recently tried drawing with new gel pens. :)

A portrait sketch of a large cynodont, Diademodon tetragonus, from the Middle Triassic of Africa and Argentina. It was originally described from the Burgersdorp Formation in the Karoo Basin (South Africa). Diademodon is considered herbivorous or omnivorous, its dentition combines well-defined sharp canines and cheek teeth with precise occlusion, designed for eating plants. The very wide postorbital part of the skull contained highly developed temporal muscles. A study of the histology of the bones showed that Diademodon, unlike the contemporary predatory Cynognathus, had a cyclical growth strategy dependent on seasonal changes. Data on stable isotopes in the teeth confirmed this. Diademodon was a rather slow animal about two meters long.

Black and white gel pens (and a little white pencil), 2025.

[typhlonectes]

Continental drift fossil evidence.

As noted by Snider-Pellegrini and Alfred Wegener, the locations of certain fossil plants and animals on present-day, widely separated continents would form definite patterns (shown by the bands of colors), if the continents are rejoined.

via: United States Geological Survey (USGS)