Genus
Valid Extinct

Cyamodus

von Meyer 1863

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).

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
18
Group
Sauroptérygiens
Marine
Cyamodus
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fossil placodont © Ghedoghedo · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Sauropterygia Suborder
›
Placodontia Order
›
Cyamodontidae Family
›
Cyamodus Genus
Fossil sites 18 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇩🇪 Germany
10
🇫🇷 France
2
🇨🇭 Switzerland
1
🇮🇹 Italy
1
🇵🇱 Poland
1
🇸🇮 Slovenia
1
🇭🇺 Hungary
1
🇨🇳 China
1
Geological formations
Besano
2
Meissner
2
Templomhegy Dolomite
1
Xiaowa
1
Temporal distribution
Carnian (237–227.3 Ma)
2
Ladinian (241.464–237 Ma)
10
Anisian (247–241.464 Ma)
6
Species (7)
Cyamodus hildegardis 247 Ma
Cyamodus kuhnschnyderi 241 Ma
Cyamodus laticeps subjective synonym of Cyamodus muensteri 247 Ma
Cyamodus muensteri 247 Ma
Cyamodus orientalis 234 Ma
Cyamodus rostratus 243 Ma
Cyamodus tarnowitzensis 241 Ma
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
J. J., Jr. Sepkoski. 2002. A compendium of fossil marine animal genera. Bulletins of American Paleontology 363:1-560
Bibliography (11)
W. Wang, C. Li, and T. M. Scheyer, L. J. Zhao. 2019. A new species of Cyamodus (Placodontia, Sauropterygia) from the early Late Triassic of south-west China. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 17(17):1457-1476 DOI ↗
A. Ősi, G. Botfalvai, and E. Prondvai, Z. Hajdu, G. Czirják, Z. Szentesi, E. Pozsgai, A. E. Götz, L. Makádi, D. Csengődi, K. Sebe. 2013. First report of Triassic vertebrate assemblages from the Villány Hills (southern Hungary). Central European Geology 56:297-335 DOI ↗
C. G. Diedrich. 2011. The shallow marine placodont Cyamodus of the central European Germanic Basin: its evolution, paleobiogeography and paleoecology. Historical Biology 23(4):391-409 DOI ↗
T. M. Scheyer. 2010. New interpretation of the postcranial skeleton and overall body shape of the placodont Cyamodus hildegardis Peyer, 1931 (Reptilia, Sauropterygia). Palaeontologica Electronica 13(2):15A
E. Buffetaut and M. Novak. 2008. A cyamodontid placodont (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the Triassic of Slovenia. Palaeontology 51(6):1301-1306 DOI ↗
O. Rieppel. 2001. The cranial anatomy of Placochelys placodonta Jaekel, 1902, and a review of the Cyamodontoidea (Reptilia, Placodonta). Fieldiana: Geology, new series 45:1-104 DOI ↗
O. Rieppel and H. Hagdorn. 1999. A skull of Cyamodus kuhnschnyderi Nosotti & Pinna 1993, from the Muschelkalk of Wassonne (Alsace, France). Palaeontologische Zeitschrift 73(3/4):377-383 DOI ↗
O. Rieppel. 1995. The genus Placodus: systematics, morphology, paleobiogeography, and paleobiology. Fieldiana: Geology, new series 31:1-44 DOI ↗
E. Kuhn-Schnyder. 1959. Über das Gebiss von Cyamodus. Vierteljahresschrift der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Zürich 104:174-188
G. Gürich. 1884. Ueber einige Saurier des obershlesischen Muschelkalkes [On some saurians from the Upper Silesian Muschelkalk]. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Geologischen Gesellschaft 36:125-144
R. Owen. 1859. Description of the skull and teeth of the Placodus laticeps, Ow, with indications of other new species of Placodus, and evidence of the saurian nature of that extinct genus. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London 9:157-159