Thrinaxodon
| Thrinaxodon Temporal range: Late Permian - Early Triassic, | |
|---|---|
| Fossil of T. liorhinus in National Museum of Natural History | |
| Diagram of skull in lateral view | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Synapsida |
| Clade: | Therapsida |
| Clade: | Cynodontia |
| Clade: | Epicynodontia |
| Family: | †Thrinaxodontidae Watson & Romer, 1956 |
| Genus: | †Thrinaxodon Seeley, 1894 |
| Type species | |
| Thrinaxodon liorhinus Seeley, 1894 | |
Thrinaxodon is an extinct genus of cynodonts which lived in what are now South Africa and Antarctica during the Late Permian - Early Triassic. Thrinaxodon lived just before, during, and right after the Permian–Triassic mass extinction event. It is known from a single species, T. liorhinus.
Similar to other therapsids, Thrinaxodon adopted a semi-sprawling posture, an intermediary form between the sprawling position of basal tetrapods and the more upright posture present in current mammals. Thrinaxodon is prevalent in the fossil record in part because it was one of the few carnivores of its time, and was of a larger size than similar cynodont carnivores. Its survival during the Permian-Triassic extinction event may have been due to its burrowing habits.