Epicynodontia
| Epicynodontia Temporal range: Late Permian-Present, 260–0 Ma |
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| Skeleton of Thrinaxodon liorhinus, a basal epicynodont | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Synapsida |
| Order: | Therapsida |
| Suborder: | Cynodontia |
| Clade: |
Epicynodontia Hopson and Kitching, 2001 |
| Subgroups | |
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See text. |
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See text.
Epicynodontia is a clade of cynodont therapsids that includes most cynodonts, including galesaurids, thrinaxodontids, and Eucynodontia. It was erected as a stem-based taxon by Hopson and Kitching (2001) and defined as the most inclusive clade containing Mammalia and excluding Procynosuchus, a Late Permian genus that is one of the most basal cynodonts.
Below is a cladogram from Ruta, Botha-Brink, Mitchell and Benton (2013) showing one hypothesis of cynodont relationships:
Probainognathia (including mammals)
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