Epicynodontia

Epicynodontia is a clade of cynodont therapsids that includes most cynodonts, such as galesaurids, thrinaxodontids, and Eucynodontia (including mammals). It was erected as a stem-based taxon by Hopson and Kitching (2001) and defined as the most inclusive clade containing Mammalia and excluding Procynosuchus, a Late Permian genus that is one of the most basal cynodonts.^[1]

Epicynodontia Temporal range: Late Permian-Present, 259–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Skeleton of Thrinaxodon liorhinus, a basal epicynodont
Sperm whale, a modern-day epicynodont
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Synapsida
Clade:	Therapsida
Clade:	Cynodontia
Clade:	Epicynodontia Hopson & Kitching, 2001
Subgroups
†Bolotridon †Cynosaurus †Nanictosaurus †Nythosaurus †Platycraniellus †Thrinaxodon †Vetusodon †Galesauridae Eucynodontia

Below is a cladogram from Pusch et al. (2023) showing one hypothesis of cynodont relationships:^[2]

Cynodontia	Charassognathidae Dvinia prima Procynosuchus delaharpeae Epicynodontia Nythosaurus larvatus Galesaurus planiceps Progalesaurus lootsbergensis Cynosaurus suppostus Vetusodon elikhulu Thrinaxodon liorhinus Nanictosaurus kitchingi Platycraniellus elegans Bolotridon frerensis Eucynodontia