| Ankistrodon Temporal range: Early Triassic, | |
|---|---|
| | |
| Holotype in (A) lateral and (B) posterior views, with (C) a cross section of a tooth | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Family: | † Proterosuchidae |
| Genus: | † Ankistrodon Huxley, 1865 |
| Type species | |
| †Ankistrodon indicus Huxley, 1865 | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Ankistrodon is an extinct genus of archosauriform known from the Early Triassic Panchet Formation of India. First thought to be a theropod dinosaur, it was later determined to be a proterosuchid. The type species is A. indicus, described by prolific British zoologist Thomas Henry Huxley in 1865. [1] One authority in the 1970s classified Ankistrodon as a senior synonym of Proterosuchus . [2] Ezcurra (2023) found Ankistrodon to be a nomen dubium , as the teeth are indistinguishable from those of Proterosuchus. A second Indian proterosuchid from the same formation, Samsarasuchus , was also described in the same study, making it the only known valid proterosuchid from India. [3]