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Ecteninion

genus of mammals (fossil)

Specimen drawers, botanical folios and brass scientific instruments under study light
Science and natureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 20, 2025
Entity authorityQ5333976
Source-derived summary

Ecteninion is an extinct genus of meat-eating cynodonts that lived during the Late Triassic (Carnian) in South America. The type species Ecteninion lunensis was named by R.N. Martinez, C.L. May, and C.A. Forster in 1996. The holotype of E. lunensis is PVSJ 422, it's known from a nearly complete skull of about 11 centimetres (4.3 in) in length. It was found in the Cancha de Bochas Member of the Ischigualasto Formation in the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin in northwestern Argentina. It has been interpreted as a basal eucynodont. The holotype is in the collection of the Universidad Nacional de San Juan.

Body size

Although specimens larger than the holotype are present in the Ischigualasto Formation, they are notably smaller than Trucidocynodon from the Santa Maria Formation.

Phylogeny

Ecteninion in a cladogram after Hopson & Kitching (2001):

Cladogram after Stefanello et al. (2023):

References

Further reading

Martinez et al. (1996) "A new carnivorous cynodont from the Ischigualasto formation (Late Triassic, Argentina), with comments on eucynodont phylogeny." J. Vertebr.

Editorial summary

“Ecteninion” enters the record as genus of mammals (fossil). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Ecteninion, genus and mammals can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA practical orientation to terminology and classification, particularly when read beside dated observations, specimens or technical literature. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1996, 2001, 2023—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Ecteninion, genus and mammals.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Ecteninion” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Ecteninion, genus and mammals provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 20, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q5333976. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1996, 2001 and 2023.

Critical limits

Current terminology should not be projected backward without checking the classification used when the underlying evidence was created. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

Best used for
  • Current terminology
  • Classification context
  • Finding cited technical literature
Verify next

Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Ecteninion”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Ecteninion primary sources, Ecteninion archive and Ecteninion research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Ecteninion”?
  2. Has classification or technical consensus changed since the cited source?
  3. Which observation, specimen, dataset or publication supports the account?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Ecteninion” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.