Diademodontidae is an extinct
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
of
Triassic
The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...
gomphodonts. The best-known genus is ''
Diademodon
''Diademodon'' is an extinct genus of cynodonts. It was about long.
Discovery
Harry Seeley had found his fossil in the Burgersdorp Formation of the Beaufort Group in the Karoo Basin of South Africa. As late as 1988, ''Diademodon'' had bee ...
'' from South Africa. ''
Titanogomphodon'' from Namibia may also be a member of Diademodontidae.
The Chinese genera ''
Hazhenia
''Hazhenia'' is an extinct genus of therocephalian therapsids from the Early Triassic of China, of which ''Hazhenia concava'' is the only species. ''Hazhenia'' was named in 1981 from the Heshanggou Formation in the Ordos Desert of Inner Mongolia ...
'' and ''
Ordosiodon
''Ordosiodon'' is an extinct genus of therocephalian therapsids from the Early Triassic of China. It includes two species, ''O. lincheyuensis'' and ''O. youngi''.
''O. lincheyuensis'', the type species, was named by Chinese paleontologist C. C. ...
'' have also been included in the family, but were more recently identified as
baurioid
Baurioidea is a superfamily of therocephalian therapsids. It includes advanced therocephalians such as ''Regisaurus'' and ''Bauria''. The superfamily was named by South African paleontologist Robert Broom in 1911. Bauriamorpha, named by D. M. S. ...
therocephalia
Therocephalia is an extinct suborder of eutheriodont therapsids (mammals and their close relatives) from the Permian and Triassic. The therocephalians ("beast-heads") are named after their large skulls, which, along with the structure of their te ...
ns.
Remains of a diademodontid were reported in the Early-Middle Triassic
Fremouw Formation
The Fremouw Formation is a Triassic-age rock formation in the Transantarctic Mountains of Antarctica. It contains the oldest known fossils of tetrapods from Antarctica, including synapsids, reptiles and amphibians. Fossilized trees have also been ...
in Antarctica,
but that specimen was later referred to the trirachodontid ''
Impidens
''Impidens'' is an extinct genus of large omnivorous cynodont from the Triassic of South Africa and Antarctica. Its type and only species is ''Impidens hancoxi''. ''Impidens'' inhabited high-latitude environments of southern Gondwana during the ...
''
References
Cynognathians
Early Triassic first appearances
Late Triassic extinctions
Prehistoric therapsid families
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