 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(August 2022) |
| Protenodontosaurus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | † Sauropterygia |
| Order: | † Placodontia |
| Superfamily: | † Cyamodontoidea |
| Family: | † Cyamodontidae |
| Genus: | † Protenodontosaurus Pinna, 1990 |
| Type species | |
| Protenodontosaurus italicusPinna, 1990 | |
Protenodontosaurus is an extinct genus of placodont from Italy. [1]
Sauropterygia is an extinct taxon of diverse, aquatic reptiles that developed from terrestrial ancestors soon after the end-Permian extinction and flourished during the Triassic before all except for the Plesiosauria became extinct at the end of that period. The plesiosaurs would continue to diversify until the end of the Mesozoic. Sauropterygians are united by a radical adaptation of their pectoral girdle, adapted to support powerful flipper strokes. Some later sauropterygians, such as the pliosaurs, developed a similar mechanism in their pelvis.
Nothosaurs were Triassic marine sauropterygian reptiles. They averaged about 3 metres (10 ft) in length, with a long body and tail. The feet were paddle-like, and are known to have been webbed in life, to help power the animal when swimming. The neck was quite long, and the head was elongated and flattened, and relatively small in relation to the body. The margins of the long jaws were equipped with numerous sharp outward-pointing teeth, indicating a diet of fish and squid.
Placodonts are an extinct order of marine reptiles that lived during the Triassic period, becoming extinct at the end of the period. They were part of Sauropterygia, the group that includes plesiosaurs. Placodonts were generally between 1 to 2 m in length, with some of the largest measuring 3 m (9.8 ft) long.
Placochelys is an extinct genus of placodont reptiles erected by Otto Jaekel in 1902.
Cyamodus is a genus of placodonts known from several species described from Middle-Late Triassic of Europe and China. The genus was described by Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer in 1863, based on specimens found in Germany. Like some other placodonts, Cyamodus has an armoured carapace composed of irregular hexagonal plates, with the mouth containing a small number of large, rounded teeth that were likely involved in crushing hard shelled organisms (durophagy).
A molluscivore is a carnivorous animal that specialises in feeding on molluscs such as gastropods, bivalves, brachiopods and cephalopods. Known molluscivores include numerous predatory molluscs,, arthropods such as crabs and firefly larvae, and, vertebrates such as fish, birds and mammals. Molluscivory is performed in a variety ways with some animals highly adapted to this method of feeding behaviour. A similar behaviour, durophagy, describes the feeding of animals that consume hard-shelled or exoskeleton bearing organisms, such as corals, shelled molluscs, or crabs.
Psephoderma is a genus of placodonts very similar to the related genera Placochelys and Cyamodus. Psephoderma had a flattened skull and a narrow, straight rostrum, much narrower than that of its relatives. Inside this skull, embedded in the jaws, were rounded teeth specialized for crushing the shellfish it ate. Unlike henodontid placodonts, Psephoderma's carapace was divided into two pieces, one on the shoulders and back, and another on the ventral end. Psephoderma grew to 180 centimetres (5.9 ft) long, larger than many of its relatives, and lived in the Late Triassic, about 210 million years ago. It was one of the last placodonts to live. Fossils of Psephoderma have been found in the Rhaetian deposits in the Alps and in England, hence the specific names.
Osteoderms are bony deposits forming scales, plates, or other structures based in the dermis. Osteoderms are found in many groups of extant and extinct reptiles and amphibians, including lizards, crocodilians, frogs, temnospondyls, various groups of dinosaurs, phytosaurs, aetosaurs, placodonts, and hupehsuchians.
Omphalosaurus is an extinct genus of marine reptile from the Early Triassic to Middle Triassic, thought to be in the order of Ichthyosauria. Most of what is known about Omphalosaurus is based on multiple jaw fragments, ribs, and vertebrae. Specimens of Omphalosaurus have been described from the western United States, Poland, Austria and the island of Spitsbergen off the northern coast of Norway.
Helveticosaurus is an extinct genus of diapsid marine reptile known from the Middle Triassic of southern Switzerland. It contains a single species, Helveticosaurus zollingeri, known from the nearly complete holotype T 4352 collected at Cava Tre Fontane of Monte San Giorgio, an area well known for its rich record of marine life during the Middle Triassic.
Haplocheirus is a genus of theropod dinosaur. Upon its description, it was considered the oldest alvarezsauroid, predating all other members by about 63 million years. This has subsequently been questioned. A 2019 study considered Haplocheirus a compsognathid instead of an alvarezsauroid, while a 2022 study considered it to have more similarities with ornithomimosaurs. Haplocheirus was described in 2010 from a fossil specimen found from the 160-million-year-old Shishugou Formation in the Junggar Basin of northwestern China. The type species is H. sollers, meaning "simple-handed skillful one", referencing its hypothesized behavior of using its three-fingered hands for activities that other alvarezsauroids could not perform, such as catching prey.
Henodus is an extinct placodont of the Late Triassic period during the early Carnian age. Fossils of Henodus chelyops were found in the Estherienschichten Member of the Grabfeld Formation, near Tübingen, Germany. It was around 1 metre (3.3 ft) in length. The single species within the genus is H. chelyops.
Sinocyamodus is an extinct genus of placodont reptile from the Late Triassic (Tuvalian) Xiaowa Formation of China. Only one species, Sinocyamodus xinpuensis, is currently assigned to this genus. This genus was the first placodont to be discovered in the eastern Tethys, overthrowing traditional views that the group was restricted to the western Tethys.
Psephochelys is an extinct genus of placodont reptile from the Late Triassic of China. It is represented by a single species, Psephochelys polyosteoderma, named in 2002 on the basis of a single partial skeleton found in an outcrop of the Carnian-age Falong Formation in Guizhou Province. Psephochelys is classified as a member of the family Placochelyidae, which is within the larger placodont superfamily Cyamodontoidea. Like other cyamodontoids, Psephochelys has a wide shell covering its body, similar to that of a turtle. However, unlike those of other cyamodontoids, the shell of Psephochelys only covers its back. The plastron, which covers the underside of other cyamodontoids, is absent, and in its place are rib-like gastralia surrounded by loosely connecting osteoderms or bony plates.
Hanosaurus is an extinct genus of marine reptiles that existed during the Triassic period in what is now China. The type species is Hanosaurus hupehensis. It was a small animal, with specimens measuring 79.4 cm (31.3 in) long in total body length, which likely fed on soft-bodied prey.
Palatodonta is an extinct genus of basal placodontiform marine reptile known from the early Middle Triassic of the Netherlands. It is closely related to a group of marine reptiles called placodonts, characterized by their crushing teeth and shell-like body armor. Palatodonta is transitional between placodonts and earlier reptiles; like placodonts, it has teeth on its palate, but while these teeth are thick and blunt in placodonts, Palatodonta has palatal teeth that are thin and pointed.
Placodontiformes is an extinct clade of sauropterygian marine reptiles that includes placodonts and the non-placodont Palatodonta. It was erected in 2013 with the description of Palatodonta. Placodontiformes is the most basal clade of Sauropterygia and the sister group of Eosauropterygia, which includes all other sauropterygians.
Atopodentatus is an extinct genus of basal sauropterygian known from the early Middle Triassic (Anisian) of Guanling Formation in Luoping County, Yunnan Province, southwestern China. It contains a single species, Atopodentatus unicus. It is thought to have lived between 247 and 240 million years ago, during the Middle Triassic period, about six million years after the Permian extinction. Atopodentatus was an herbivorous marine reptile, although marine reptiles are usually omnivores or carnivores.
Eusaurosphargis is an extinct genus of a diapsid reptile, known from the Middle Triassic Besano Formation of northern Italy and Prosanto Formation of south-eastern Switzerland. It contains a single species, Eusaurosphargis dalsassoi. It was a small reptile, measuring 20 cm (7.9 in) long.
Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because humans have encountered fossils for millennia, paleontology has a long history both before and after becoming formalized as a science. This article records significant discoveries and events related to paleontology that occurred or were published in the year 2017.