Cynodont
noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Any of several small carnivorous synapsids in the clade Cynodontia, ancestral to mammals and extinct close relatives.
"The Triassic immediately followed a devastating mass extinction, and the cynodonts diversified in its aftermath in much the same way mammals did in the Paleocene."
- 2 small carnivorous reptiles wordnet
Example
More examples"The Triassic immediately followed a devastating mass extinction, and the cynodonts diversified in its aftermath in much the same way mammals did in the Paleocene."
Etymology
From cyno- + -odont, from Ancient Greek κύων (kúōn, “dog”) and ὀδόντος (odóntos), genitive singular of ὀδούς (odoús, “tooth, tusk”).