What are Dicynodontia?
Q: What are Dicynodontia?
A: Dicynodontia are a sub-group of extinct animals called therapsids.
Q: What did Dicynodontia eat?
A: Dicynodontia were herbivorous, meaning they ate plants.
Q: What does the term "dicynodont" mean?
A: The term "dicynodont" means "two dog tooth" in reference to the two tusks that all dicynodonts had.
Q: How successful and diverse were the Dicynodontia?
A: The Dicynodontia were the most successful and diverse of the non-mammalian therapsids, with over 70 known genera.
Q: What was the body shape of Dicynodontia?
A: The body shape of Dicynodontia was similar to certain types of modern mammals such as pigs and rhinoceros.
Q: When did Dicynodontia live until?
A: Fossils discovered in Poland suggest that Dicynodontia lived until about 200 million years ago during the Upper Triassic period. However, six fragments of fossil skull bone found in Australia indicate that some Dicynodontia may have survived until about 150 million years ago during the Cretaceous period in the region called the southern Gondwana.
Q: Were Dicynodontia the ancestors to mammals?
A: No, the Dicynodontia were a sub-group of therapsids but were not ancestors to mammals. The group which evolved into mammals was the cynodonts.
