English

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a very early cynodont (†Charassognathus)

Etymology

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cyno- +‎ -odont, from Ancient Greek κύων (kúōn, dog) and ὀδόντος (odóntos), genitive singular of ὀδούς (odoús, tooth, tusk).

Noun

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cynodont (plural cynodonts)

  1. (zoology) Any of several small carnivorous synapsids in the clade Cynodontia, ancestral to mammals and extinct close relatives.
    • 2022, Thomas Halliday, Otherlands, Penguin, published 2023, page 160:
      The Triassic immediately followed a devastating mass extinction, and the cynodonts diversified in its aftermath in much the same way mammals did in the Paleocene.

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Further reading

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