noun
- an extinct group of reptile-like animals that were ancestors to mammals, characterized by having a single opening in the skull behind each eye socket
Usage: paleontology
Examples
- Therapsids dominated terrestrial ecosystems during the Permian period.
- The fossil record shows that therapsids evolved mammalian characteristics gradually.
- Scientists study therapsids to understand the evolutionary transition from reptiles to mammals.
- Many therapsids had differentiated teeth, unlike most reptiles.
- The extinction event at the end of the Permian eliminated most therapsid species.
- Cynodonts were a group of therapsids that gave rise to true mammals.