Cynodonts (Beast-Teeth) were a suborder/clade of therapsid amniotes, appearing in the Middle to Late Triassic time period, around 256-250 MYA. Unlike the earlier therapsids, such as the gorgonopsids of the Late Permian, or even some of the therocephalians of the earlier Triassic, non-mammalian cynodonts were generally fairly small animals, not much bigger than modern house cats or medium-sized dogs. Mammals are actually dirived cynodonts.