Genus
Valid Extinct

Atopodentatus

Cheng et al. 2014

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.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
2
Group
Sauroptérygiens
Marine
Atopodentatus
click to enlarge
Revamped drawing with changed dinocephalosaurus and atopodentatus © Spinosaurid · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Sauropterygia Suborder
›
Atopodentatus Genus
Fossil sites 2 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇨🇳 China
2
Geological formations
Guanling
2
Temporal distribution
Anisian (247–241.464 Ma)
2
Species (1)
Atopodentatus unicus 244 Ma
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
L. Cheng, X. -H. Chen, and Q. -H. Shang, X. -C. Wu. 2014. A new marine reptile from the Triassic of China, with a highly specialized feeding adaptation. Natuwissenschaften DOI ↗
Bibliography (2)
L. Chun, O. Rieppel, and C. Long, N. C. Fraser. 2016. The earliest herbivorous marine reptile and its remarkable jaw apparatus. Science Advances 2(5):e1501659 DOI ↗
L. Cheng, X. -H. Chen, and Q. -H. Shang, X. -C. Wu. 2014. A new marine reptile from the Triassic of China, with a highly specialized feeding adaptation. Natuwissenschaften DOI ↗