Cryptodontia

Cryptodontia is a group of dicynodont therapsids that includes the families Geikiidae, Oudenodontidae, and Rhachiocephalidae. It was first named in 1860 by English paleontologist Richard Owen. Owen intended Cryptodontia to be a family, and the name was later changed to "Cryptodontidae" to reflect this ranking. The name Cryptodontia was restored in 2009 when it was redefined as a larger clade containing several families of dicynodonts.^[1]

Cryptodontia Temporal range: Middle Permian - Late Permian
Skull of Oudenodon latirostris
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Synapsida
Clade:	Therapsida
Clade:	†Anomodontia
Clade:	†Dicynodontia
Clade:	†Bidentalia
Clade:	†Cryptodontia Owen, 1860
Subgroups
See text.
Synonyms
Cryptodontidae

Classification

Below is a cladogram from Kammerer et al. (2011) showing the phylogenetic placement of Cryptodontia:

Dicynodontia	Eodicynodon Pylaecephalidae Eumantellidae Endothiodontidae Therochelonia Emydopoidea Emydopidae Kingoriidae Cistecephalidae Myosauridae Bidentalia Cryptodontia Rhachiocephalidae Oudenodontidae Geikiidae Dicynodontoidea "Dicynodon" Lystrosauridae Kannemeyeriiformes Shansiodontidae Kannemeyeriidae Stahleckeriidae Dinodontosauridae