Atopodentatus
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| phylum | Chordata | Atopodentatus unicus was an herbiorous marine reptile, possibly basal sauropterygian, from 247 - 240 million years ago, during the Triassic, from Yunnan Province, China. About 3 meters (9.8 ft) long, it had a hammer-shaped head with shovel-like jaws. Chisel-shaped teeth harvested algae from the seabed. The name derives from the zipper-shaped morphology of the upper jaw of the damaged skull of the holotype, later corrected when two additonal skulls were discovered.
For more information see the Wikipedia entry. Get back to Sauropterygia |
| class | Reptilia | |
| clade | Pantestudines | |
| superorder | † Sauropterygia | |
| genus | † Atopodentatus | |
| species | † A. unicus | |
| period | Triassic |
