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Probainognathia are mammal-like cynodonts, and are one of the two main branches of the Eucynodontia infraorder, with the other being the Cynognathia - a group that includes Cynognathus and the Tritylodonts. They were mainly meat-eaters, while the Cynognathians were plant-eaters. The Probainognathia form into four groups - Probainognathidae, Chiniquodontidae, Trithelodontidae, and Mammaliaformes - which includes the mammals. The earliest Probainognathian is Lumkuia, from South Africa. For the non-mammalian probainognathians, the probainognathians lived from the Triassic to the Jurassic, making this one of the longest lived therapsid family, but they were small. The probainognathians clearly had an insect-eating lifestyle during the rule of the dinosaurs. It is unknown why the non-mammalian probainognathians didn't make it to the Cretaceous Period like the Cynognathian family.
[edit] Taxonomy and Phylogeny
