Dromatheriidae

Dromatheriidae; Temporal range: Late Triassic PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Synapsida
Clade:	Therapsida
Clade:	Cynodontia
Clade:	Prozostrodontia
Family:	†Dromatheriidae; Gill, 1872
Genera
	†Deccanodon; †Dromatherium; †Inditherium; †Meurthodon?; †Microconodon; †Polonodon; †Pseudotriconodon; †Rewaconodon; †Therioherpeton?; †Tricuspes;

Dromatheriidae is an extinct family of prozostrodontian cynodonts, closely related to mammals. Members of the family are known from the Late Triassic (Carnian to Rhaetian) of India,^[1] Europe and North America. Apart from a few jaw fragments, dromatheriids are mainly known from their sectorial (flesh-slicing) postcanine teeth. The teeth were fairly typical among early prozostrodontians, as they were labiolingually compressed (flattened sideways), with a single root and crown hosting a longitudinal row of sharp cusps. Dromatheriids in particular have a very narrow and symmetrical crown (when seen from above) without a prominent cingulum (a ridge or array of cuspules adjacent to the main cusps).^[1]^[2]^[3]

Dromatheriid teeth on average have four main cusps, though some have as few as two (Dromatherium) or three (Tricuspes), or as many as six (Inditherium, Pseudotriconodon). Although the teeth have a single root, a vertical furrow on each side of the root appears to be a trait incipient towards the two fully divided roots of mammaliaforms.^[1]^[3] Making note of this condition, some authors have suggested that dromatheriids are a paraphyletic group ancestral to mammaliaforms.^[2] Other studies instead consider the closest relatives of dromatheriids to be the "therioherpetids" Therioherpeton and Meurthodon, which may even be placed within the family.^[3] However, the broader cusps of Therioherpeton and the divided root of Meurthodon dissuade their position within Dromatheriidae.^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Bhat, Mohd Shafi; Ray, Sanghamitra; Datta, P. M. (2020). "New cynodonts (Therapsida, Eucynodontia) from the Late Triassic of India and their significances". Journal of Paleontology. 95 (2): 376–393. doi:10.1017/jpa.2020.95. S2CID 228836405.
^ ^a ^b Godefroit, Pascal; Battail, Bernard (1997). "Late Triassic cynodonts from Saint-Nicolas-de-Port (north-eastern France)" (PDF). Geodiversitas. 19: 567–631. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-05-03.
^ ^a ^b ^c Sulej, Tomasz; Niedźwiedzki, Grzegorz; Tałanda, Mateusz; Dróżdż, Dawid; Hara, Ewa (2020). "A new early Late Triassic non-mammaliaform eucynodont from Poland". Historical Biology. 32 (1): 80–92. doi:10.1080/08912963.2018.1471477. S2CID 90448333.
^ Oliveira, É. V. (2006). "Reevaluation of Therioherpeton cargnini Bonaparte & Barberena, 1975 (Probainognathia, Therioherpetidae) from the Upper Triassic of Brazil" (PDF). Geodiversitas. 28 (3): 447–465.

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[:0-1] Bhat, Mohd Shafi; Ray, Sanghamitra; Datta, P. M. (2020). "New cynodonts (Therapsida, Eucynodontia) from the Late Triassic of India and their significances". Journal of Paleontology. 95 (2): 376–393. doi:10.1017/jpa.2020.95. S2CID 228836405.

[:1-2] Godefroit, Pascal; Battail, Bernard (1997). "Late Triassic cynodonts from Saint-Nicolas-de-Port (north-eastern France)" (PDF). Geodiversitas. 19: 567–631. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-05-03.

[:2-3] Sulej, Tomasz; Niedźwiedzki, Grzegorz; Tałanda, Mateusz; Dróżdż, Dawid; Hara, Ewa (2020). "A new early Late Triassic non-mammaliaform eucynodont from Poland". Historical Biology. 32 (1): 80–92. doi:10.1080/08912963.2018.1471477. S2CID 90448333.

[Oliveira2006-4] Oliveira, É. V. (2006). "Reevaluation of Therioherpeton cargnini Bonaparte & Barberena, 1975 (Probainognathia, Therioherpetidae) from the Upper Triassic of Brazil" (PDF). Geodiversitas. 28 (3): 447–465.

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