Oligokyphus ("few cusps") is an extinct genus of herbivorous tritylodontid cynodont known from the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic of Europe, Asia and North America.

The German paleontologist Walter Georg Kühne traveled to the United Kingdom in 1938 with the goal of collecting early mammal specimens.

The outbreak of World War II led to Kühne's internment on the Isle of Man, during which time he prepared and studied the collected material.

[7] In 2015, indeterminate remains of the genus were described from the McCoy Brook Formation of eastern Canada, dating to the latest Triassic (Rhaetian).

[10] The teeth of the upper and lower jaw contain bump rows that fit together perfectly in order to maintain an accurate bite.

[11] These cusps, specific to Oligokyphus Tritylodonts, allowed for a well-fitting bite that was particularly good at shredding plant material dense in fiber.

They are now classified as the closest relatives to the mammals and this is supported by their high, flat, crested jaw, large zygomatic arches, well developed secondary palate, and specialized dentition.

These animals were extremely active and burrowed in leaf litter and dirt, which suggests characteristics of rodents and rabbits.

However, considering the conditions on the planet during the times that Oligokyphus was alive and thriving (late Triassic and early Jurassic) and also the locations of which fossils of these animals were found, some educated predictions can be made about their metabolism and feeding habits.

[13] It has been surmised that the Kayenta Formation was deposited during the Sinemurian and Pliensbachian stages of the Early Jurassic Period or approximately 199 to 182 million years ago.

During the Early Jurassic period, the land that is now the Kayenta Formation experienced rainy summers and dry winters.

kayentakatae, the basal sauropodomorph Sarahsaurus,[17] heterodontosaurids, and the armored dinosaur Scutellosaurus (the same applied for Europe and Asia).

The Kayenta Formation has produced that remains of three coelophysoid taxa of different body size, which represents the most diverse ceratosaur fauna yet known.

Vertebrates present here at the time of Oligokyphus included hybodont sharks, bony fish known as osteichthyes, lungfish, salamanders, the frog Prosalirus, the caecilian Eocaecilia, the turtle Kayentachelys, a sphenodontian reptile, and various lizards.

Also present were the synapsids Dinnebiton and Kayentatherium,[19] several early crocodylomorphs including Calsoyasuchus, Eopneumatosuchus, Kayentasuchus, and Protosuchus), and the pterosaur Rhamphinion.