Menadon
| Menadon Temporal range: Late Triassic
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|---|---|
| Scientific classification Edit this classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Synapsida |
| Clade: | Therapsida |
| Clade: | Cynodontia |
| Family: | †Traversodontidae |
| Subfamily: | †Gomphodontosuchinae |
| Genus: | †Menadon Flynn et al. 2000 |
| Species: | †M. besairiei
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| Binomial name | |
| †Menadon besairiei Flynn et al. 2000
| |
Menadon is an extinct genus of traversodontid cynodonts. The type and only species is Menadon besairiei.[1]
Fossils of Menadon were first found in Isalo II (the Makay Formation) of Madagascar, which preserves sediments from the Middle to Late Triassic period.[1][2] They have also been recovered from the Santa Maria Formation of the Paraná Basin near Santa Cruz do Sul in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.[3]
Menadon was unique among non-mammalian synapsids for the presence of hypsodont (high-crowned) postcanine teeth. Hypsodont teeth grow continuously to counteract high wear caused by a diet of abrasive plant material. Menadon's teeth convergently resemble those of hypsodont xenarthrans such as sloths and armadillos, due to their column-like form and dentine which grows from the crown towards the root.[4]
References
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