Protenodontosaurus

Pro-ten-oh-don-toe-sore-us.
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John Stewart

Paleoecologist

John Stewart is a distinguished paleoecologist whose work has significantly advanced our understanding of prehistoric ecosystems. With over two decades dedicated to unearthing fossils across Asia and Africa

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Name

Protenodontosaurus (Before hold tooth lizard).

Phonetic

Pro-ten-oh-don-toe-sore-us.

Named By

Pinna - 1990.

Classification

Diet

Shellfish.

Species

Not Found

Size

Uncertain.

Known locations

Europe.

Time Period

Carnian of the Triassic.

Fossil representation

Single specimen.

In Depth

       Even though it was discovered in 1990, Protenodontosaurus is still a little known placodont. It has been suggested that Protenodontosaurus is a missing link between the placodonts Placochelys and Cyamodus, or at very least representative of the form that would be expected to exist between them.

Further Reading

– A skull of Cyamodus kuhnschnyderi Nosotti & Pinna 1993, from the Muschelkalk of Wassonne (Alsace, France) – Palaeontologische Zeitschrift 73(3/4):377-383 – O. Rieppel & H. Hagdorn – 1999. – The cranial anatomy of Placochelys placodonta Jaekel, 1902, and a review of the Cyamodontoidea (Reptilia, Placodonta) – Fieldiana: Geology, new series 45:1-104 – O. Rieppel – 2001.

SPECIES SPOTLIGHT