Chiniquodon



Chiniquodon is an extinct genus of carnivorous cynodonts, which lived during the Late Triassic (Carnian) in South America (Argentina and Brazil) and Africa (Namibia and Madagascar). Chiniquodon was closely related to the genus Aleodon, and close to the ancestry of mammals.

Other contemporaries included early dinosaurs. As both groups filled a similar ecological niche, fairly large therapsid hunters such as Chiniquodon may have been outcompeted by dinosaurs.

Classification
Chiniquodon theotonicus, the type species, is from the Santa Maria Formation, Brazil and Chañares Formation, Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin, northwestern Argentina. This species is known from a number of skulls. The holotype is in the paleontological collection at Tübingen University, Germany.

Chiniquodon kitchingi, from the Santa Maria Formation of Brazil, was described in 1982 by A. M. Sá-Teixeira based on a single skull missing the lower jaw. When first described, it was assigned to the genus Probelesodon, but was reassigned to Chiniquodon in a 1995 paper by Fernando Abdala, as the type species of Probelesodon (P. lewisi) was found to be a junior synonym of C. theotonicus. A 2002 paper by Abdala and Norberto P. Giannini went even further by synonymising C. kitchingi with C. theotonicus. In 2023 the type material of C. kitchingi was redescribed by Hoffmann et al., who found it to be a valid species of Chiniquodon.

Chiniquodon sanjuanensis is from the Cancha de Bochas Member of the Ischigualasto Formation, Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin, northwestern Argentina. It was originally assigned to the genus Probelesodon, but was reassigned to Chiniquodon in 2002. It is differentiated from C. theotonicus because of its teeth and the shape of the zygomatic process. Chiniquodon kalanoro is from the Isalo II Formation, Madagascar. This species is known from a mandible (holotype UA 10607).

Chiniquodon omaruruensis is from the Omingonde Formation of Namibia. It is known from a single specimen (GSN F315), consisting of a complete skull and parts of the postcranial skeleton.