One of the Early Triassic synapsids, and also one of the largest in its groupcalled the
cynodonts, Cynognathus was a strongly built carnivore with powerful jaws" Irhad three
types of teeth, similar to those of the Carnivora mammals that would evolve some 200
million years later. These teeth consisted of small front incisors for nipping and nibbling,
large pointed canines for ripping and stabbing, and molar teeth with coarse serrations for
chewing and shearing. The cynodonts, 'dog teeth', were among the longest-surviving of all•
the synapsids, living from the Late Permian to the Middle Jurassic. They were mammal-like
in many features and deserve their casual name of 'mammal-like reptiles' - especially since
some of their kind probably gave rise to the true mammals