Massetognathinae

Massetognathinae Temporal range: Middle - Late Triassic
Skull of the massetognathine Dadadon isaloi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Synapsida
Order:	Therapsida
Suborder:	Cynodontia
Family:	†Traversodontidae
Subfamily:	†Massetognathinae Kammerer et al., 2012

Massetognathinae is an extinct subfamily of cynodonts in the family Traversodontidae. It includes four species from the Middle and Late Triassic: Massetognathus pascuali from Argentina, Massetognathus ochagaviae and Santacruzodon hopsoni from southern Brazil, and Dadadon isaloi from Madagascar.^[1] Massetognathines have several distinguishing characteristics, including flattened skulls, small canine teeth, and postcanine teeth with three cusps on their outer edges. Massetgognathinae was defined by Kammerer et al. (2012) as the clade containing all traversodontids more closely related to Massetognathus pascuali than to Gomphodontosuchus brasiliensis, and is the sister taxon of the traversodontid subfamily Gomphodontosuchinae, which was defined by Kammerer et al. (2008) as all traverodontids more closely related to G. brasiliensis than to M. pascuali.^[2]

Life restoration of Massetognathus pascuali

Below is a cladogram from Kammerer et al. (2012) showing the phylogenetic position of Massetognathinae within Traversodontidae:^[1]

Cynognathia	Cynognathus Gomphodontia Diademodon Trirachodontidae Trirachodon Cricodon Langbergia Traversodontidae Andescynodon Pascualgnathus Arctotraversodon Boreogomphodon Nanogomphodon Massetognathinae Massetognathus Dadadon Santacruzodon Gomphodontosuchinae Gomphodontosuchus Menadon Protuberum Exaeretodon Scalenodontoides

References

1. Kammerer, C. F.; Flynn, J. J.; Ranivoharimanana, L.; Wyss, A. R. (2012). "Ontogeny in the Malagasy Traversodontid Dadadon isaloi and a Reconsideration of its Phylogenetic Relationships". Fieldiana Life and Earth Sciences 5: 112. doi:10.3158/2158-5520-5.1.112.
2. Kammerer, C. F.; Flynn, J. J.; Ranivoharimanana, L.; Wyss, A. R. (2008). "New material ofMenadon besairiei(Cynodontia: Traversodontidae) from the Triassic of Madagascar". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 28 (2): 445. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2008)28[445:NMOMBC]2.0.CO;2.