Aspects of this topic are discussed in the following places at Britannica.
The suborder Cynodontia contains, according to some classifications, five families—Procynosuchidae, Galesauridae, Tritylodontidae, Chiniquodontidae, and Trithelodontidae. The first mammals probably derived from small carnivorous chiniquodontids or trithelodonts sometime in the Middle Triassic Epoch (240 to 230 million years ago).
We welcome your comments. Any revisions or updates suggested for this article will be reviewed by our editorial staff. Contact us here.
Regular users of Britannica may notice that this comments feature is less robust than in the past. This is only temporary, while we make the transition to a dramatically new and richer site. The functionality of the system will be restored soon.