An endeavour is made to trace the evolution of mammals from Cotylosaurian ancestors through the carnivorous Therapsida. In Upper Carboniferous times the line probably passed through some primitive generalised Pelycosaurs; in Lower Permian through primitive, probably Therocephalian, Therapsids. In Middle and Upper Permian the line passed through the Gorgonopsia. In Triassic times the mammalian ancestors were small generalised Cynodonts. In Lower Jurassic the mammals are so Cynodont-like, and the Cynodonts so mammal-like, that in no single case are we absolutely certain which is which. In the Therocephalia, the Gorgonopsia, and the Cynodontia, the skull is very mammal-like. The zygomatic arch is, as in mammals, formed by the jugal and the squamosal. The teeth are divided into incisors, canines and molars. In the later Gorgonopsians there is an imperfect secondary palate; in Cynodonts a complete secondary palate as in mammals. In Permian Therapsids there is a single occipital condyle; in the Triassic Cynodonts there may he a single condyle slightly divided or two exoccipital condyles. There is, on passing from earlier to later types, a steady increase in the size of the dentary and decrease in the size of the other elements of the jaw. The quadrate also becomes much reduced in the higher types. In Gorgonopsians and probably all earlier types the arch of the atlas is a pair of bones; in Cynodonts, as in mammals, there is a single arch.
Croonian lecture
: The origin of mammals
