Onychodontia

## Taxonomy

Polypodia

Sarcopodia

Neopoda

Osteopoda

Polyschia

Dromaeopoda

**Onychodontia**

## Immediate subtaxa

Allodontia

Euonychodontia

**Onychodontia** (lit. "Claw Teeth") is an order of hypercarnivorous Dromaeopods.

## Description

Onychodonts first appeared around 4238ma, quickly becoming apex predators on the steppe and eventually the most prolific apex predators on the planet. They are generally found in open environments such as the steppe, where they hunt prey such as Titanopods and Leptopods.

Like Leptopods, Onychodonts have an upright posture, a long flexible spine and proportionally long legs. While endothermic during hunts, they will cease thermoregulation during times of rest or scarcity. However, their most notable trait is their centaurism. Unlike most other Osteopods, Onychodonts are hexapedal rather than octopedal: what was once their anterior pair of walking limbs are now clawed arms held permanently off the ground. The exact application of these arms (especially how they work in conjunction with the pedipalps) varies, but the increase in running efficiency is universal across clades.

### Decline

Despite being so prolific and widespread, the onychodonts were some of the first clades to disappear come the mass extinction: while they were a very diverse group, the vast majority of onychodonts were top order carnivores, which become very vulnerable to extinction once their prey base disappears. In this case, the titanopods and allobrachids suffered heavily and were completely wiped out, leaving the macropredatory onychodonts deprived of food and thus they began losing species very rapidly until there were none left. While the allodonts suffered heavily, the xenopsids, both basal and stenopsid, were among the survivors who inhereited the niches left vacant.

### Branches

There are two known branches of Onychodonts, both of which differ slightly in their diet composition.

* Euonychodontia: A hypercarnivorous clade which includes Hadrodonts, the largest land predators to ever live, as well as several clades found on the steppes, such as the Cryptodonts on the eastern continent and the Ensidonts on the western continent.
* Allodontia: A mesocarnivorous clade whose lifestyle is more similar to the ancestral Dromaeopods, the most notable of which are the tundra-dwelling Thecopods.

## Navigation

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							+ *unspecified*
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										+ *Vitapatatoria aspiana*
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								- *unspecified*
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												* *Anthonomos qbelocki*†
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												* Archeallobrachinae†
													+ *Melanothrix oneiropolos*†
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											- *Therizinyx elliotti†*
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					- Dromaeopoda
						* Archedromaepoda†
							+ *Rhomaleopus*†
							+ Archedromaeopodidae†
								- *Dromovenator setnovi*†
						* **Onychodontia**
							+ Euonychodontia†
								- Euonychodontidae†
									* Ensidontia†
										+ Euensidontia†
										+ Prionodontia†
									* Euonychodontinae†
										+ Archeonychodontidae†
										+ Cryptodontia†
											- *Raptonyx junae*†
											- Tachydontia†
											- Eucryptodontia†
								- Hadrodontia†
							+ Allodontia
								- Euallodontia†
									* Archallodontia†
									* Eriotherinae†
								- Thecopoda
									* Euthecopoda†
										+ *Leucothrix caliburi*†
									* Amphidontia
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										+ Xenopsidae
											- *polylophodon thomasi*
											- Archexenopsidae
												* Archexenopsinae
												* Euxenopsidae
													+ Ankistrobrachidae
													+ Neoxenopsidae
														- Teleopsidae
														- Chelaphora
															* Stenochelaphora
															* Pachychelaphora
											- Stenopsidae
												* File:StenopsidaeEvo.pngArchestenopsidae
												* Neostenopsidae
													+ Peloropsidae
														- Archepeloropsidae
														- Anaxotheriidae
													+ Ceratodontia
														- Archeceratodontia
														- Neoceratodontia
															* Aratrodontia
															* Isodontia
																+ Kophodontidae
																+ Elaphrodontia
																	- Archelaphrodontia
																	- Neoelaphrodontia
																		* Spathodontia
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				+ Synischia
					- Megalobrachidae†
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							+ Prenobrachidae†
						* Titanopoda†
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								- Euprocerapoda†
									* *Megaphagus matti*†
								- Stylopoda†
									* *Hybotitan bluenoti*†
							+ Baropoda†
								- Eubaropoda†
									* *Nanopus proximensis*†
									* Eubaropodidae†
								- Pachypoda†
					- Deinognatha
						* Eudeinognatha†
							+ Eudeinognathidae†
								- *Euoplos gulielmi*†
							+ Malleognatha†
						* Odontognatha
							+ Trachygnatha†
								- *Telmarchos krisi*†
							+ Dolichognatha
								- Eudolichognatha
									* Archedolichognatha†
									* Hybognatha
								- Pelagotheria†
									* Actatheria†
										+ *Eurypus geberi*†
									* Thalattotheria†
										+ Isopterygia†
										+ Anisopterygia†
											- *Pontodrakon nicholsi*†

* **Chemophyta**
	+ Archaeophyta
	+ Xenophyta
		- Caulophyta
			* Neocaulophyta
				+ Eucaulophyta
					- Eucaulophytaceae
						* Eucaulophytoideae
						* Nothodendrales†
					- Reptophyta
				+ Brachyphyta
					- Archebrachyphyta
						* Eubrachyphyta
							+ Eubrachyphytaceae
							+ Desmophyta
								- Carnophyta†
								- Chromatophyta
									* Archechromatophyta
										+ Archechromatophytacea
										+ Aphyllophyta
									* Zygophyta
										+ Zygophytacea
											- Zygodendrales
											- Archezygophytacea
										+ Harpactophyta†
						* Tylophyta
					- Cryptophyta
						* Eucryptophyta
						* Pagophyta
			* Necrophyta
		- Xylophyta
			* Euxylophyta
				+ Archexylophyta
					- Archexylophytacaea
					- Coelophyta
				+ Nodophyta
			* Altiphyta†
				+ *Trilobophyllus axidenti*†

 † = Extinct