- Galesauridae
Taxobox
name = Galesauridae
fossil_range = late LatestPermian toMiddle Triassic
regnum =Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis =Synapsid a
ordo =Therapsida
subordo =Cynodontia
unranked_familia =Epicynodontia
familia = Galesauridae
subdivision_ranks = Genera
subdivision = "Cynosaurus "
"Nanictosaurus "
"Progalesaurus "
"Galesaurus "
"Thrinaxodon "Galesauridae, along with the family
Thrinaxodontidae and the largeclade Eucynodontia (which includes themammal s) make up the unranked taxon calledEpicynodontia . Galesaurids first appeared in the very latestPermian period, just a million years (or perhaps only a thousand years) before the greatest extinction of all time, thePermian-Triassic extinction event .Galesaurids are the most primitive of the epicynodonts. They may have resembled the basal cynodonts, such as the procynosuchids and may have descended from a procynosuchid-like ancestor, but the galesaurids were more advanced than the basal
cynodont s. It is clear that, like many other epicynodonts, many galesaurids had a completesecondary palate , which allowed them to swallow food while breathing, and the dentary bone was enlarged relative to those of their ancestors. Theirtemporal fenestrae are much larger than those of the procynosuchids, but not as large as in more advanced epicynodonts. Their snouts are broad, rather than tall, and they may have walked erect, with the legs beneath the body like most other cynodonts.Galesaurid fossils are found almost worldwide. They were among the survivors of the
Permian-Triassic extinction event , but they became extinct in theMiddle Triassic epoch, as did the therocephalians. One of the most notable genera of the family Galesauridae is "Galesaurus ".
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