Phyllodontosuchus

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Phyllodontosuchus
Temporal range: Early Jurassic
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Archosauria
Clade: Pseudosuchia
Clade: Crocodylomorpha
Genus: Phyllodontosuchus
Harris et al., 2000
Species:
P. lufengensis
Binomial name
Phyllodontosuchus lufengensis
Harris et al., 2000

Phyllodontosuchus (

herbivorous dinosaurs, and it does not appear to have been a strict carnivore
like most other crocodylomorphs.

History and description

Phyllodontosuchus is

Lufeng Formation near Dawa in Yunnan. A Morganucodon skull was also recovered from this locality. BVP568-L12 is only 71.4 millimetres (2.81 in) long and imperfectly preserved; it was first thought to represent an early ornithischian dinosaur. Sutures are not visible, so despite the small size, the specimen appears to have come from an adult. Phyllodontosuchus was named in 2000 by Jerald Harris and colleagues. The type species is P. lufengensis, in reference to the Lufeng Formation.[1]

There were 17 or 18 teeth per side in the upper jaw,

predentary as found in all known ornithischians. Instead, it is most similar to sphenosuchians.[1]

Heterodonty is known in several sphenosuchians, including Dibothrosuchus, Hesperosuchus, Pedeticosaurus, and Sphenosuchus. These forms had similar divisions of pointed and recurved anterior teeth and less pointed middle and posterior teeth, which could have been the ancestral state for the leaf-shaped teeth of Phyllodontosuchus. Small heterodont crocodylomorphs are known from other lineages as well, including Edentosuchus, Chimaerasuchus, and Malawisuchus. These small, variably-toothed crocodylomorphs are thought to have had diets beyond the typical carnivory/piscivory of modern crocodilians, possibly including some degree of herbivory. If Phyllodontosuchus did eat plants, it probably did not grind them in the jaws, though.[1]

Notes

^ * The tooth count in the abstract and diagnosis is 6 conical teeth and 12 leaf-shaped teeth, while the body of the paper describes a total of 17 teeth per side, ?5 of which are conical.

References