Atopodentatus
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.
| Atopodentatus Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| Life restoration in a swimming posture, with Dinocephalosaurus in the background | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Neodiapsida |
| Superorder: | †Sauropterygia |
| Genus: | †Atopodentatus Cheng et al., 2014 |
| Type species | |
| †Atopodentatus unicus Cheng et al., 2014 | |
A near complete skeleton along with a left lateral portion of the skull were discovered near Daaozi village, Yunnan, China. The scientific name derives from the peculiar zipper-shaped morphology of the holotype specimen's jaws and unique dentition. However, two fossil skulls discovered in 2016 indicate that the holotype skull was badly damaged, and that the living animal actually had a hammer-shaped head with shovel-like jaws.