page_title: Massetognathus
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Massetognathus / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: Restoration of Massetognathus, an extinct therapsid
context_page_description: Massetognathus is an extinct genus of plant-eating traversodontid cynodonts. They lived during the Triassic Period about 235 million years ago, and are known from the Chañares Formation in Argentina and the Santa Maria Formation in Brazil.
context_section_description: Massetognathus species measured to about 46 centimeters (1.51 feet) in length with an estimated weight between 1 and 1.5 kilograms (2.2 and 3.3 lb). Massetognathus was the smaller, plant-eating equivalent of the better-known Cynognathus with incisors, fang-like canines and flat-topped molars covered by low ridges, an adaptation for grinding tough plant stems, roots, and other plant materials. It had a low and flattened skull indicating that the specimen had a relatively shorter and broader snout than larger specimens. It was a fox sized animal with claws on its feet and a long dog-like tail. Like most cynodonts, there is some evidence that they laid eggs, were warm blooded, as indicated by the detailed structure of the bones, and had a body covered by hair.
caption: Restoration
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