Cricodon
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Cricodon Temporal range: 251–242 Ma Early Triassic–Middle Triassic |
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| The partial skeletal reconstruction of Cricodon metabolus with a tool as reference for size. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Order: | Therapsida |
| Suborder: | Cynodontia |
| Family: | †Trirachodontidae |
| Subfamily: | †Trirachodontinae |
| Genus: | †Cricodon |
| Type species | |
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†C. metabolus |
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Cricodon is an extinct genus of cynodonts that lived during the Early Triassic and Middle Triassic periods of Africa, approximately 251 million years ago.
A. W. Crompton was the first to name Cricodon based on the ring-like arrangement of the cuspules on the crown of a typical postcanine tooth. A.W. Crompton also named the Cricodon species he discovered C. metabolus as the name indicated the change in structure of certain postcanines resulting from replacement.
Below is a cladogram from Gao et al. (2010) showing the phylogenetic relationships of one part of the cynodontia order to the cricodon genus:
Langbergia
Cricodon
Sinognathus
Cricodon was first discovered in the Tanzanian Manda Beds of South Africa. Broili & Schröder (1936) were the first to describe the discovered teeth yet were not able to provide a name for the specimen at the time as there were only 5 cynodont teeth, which Crompton (1955) later named Cricodon as more fossil discoveries were found and a more complete skeleton could be created. The South African Karoo Beds have yielded a plethora of Permian and Triassic amphibians and reptiles which cover 200,000 square miles.Fossil evidence of Cricodon was also discovered in the Karoo Beds, in the Cynognathus Assemblage Zone of South Africa. A proposition for the Cynognathus Assemblage Zone has been proposed, subdividing the assemblage zone into three distinct subzones (Subzone A, Subzone B, and Subzone C) based primarily on the spatial and temporal ranges of key temnospondyl index taxa. Additionally, the Cynognathus Assemblage Zone encompasses the boundary between the late Early and early Middle Triassic period.Cricodon was discovered in the youngest of the three subzones, Subzone C. However, a region corresponding to Subzone B was where upper postcanines, resembling the patterns of Cricodon, were also discovered.
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