Hypsognathus
| Hypsognathus | ||||||||||||
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Hypsognathus |
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||||
| Norium to Rhaetium ( Upper Triassic ) | ||||||||||||
| 228 to 201.3 million years | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Hypsognathus | ||||||||||||
| Gilmore , 1928 |
Hypsognathus was a reptile about 33 centimeters long from the group of Procolophonidae that lived in the Upper Triassic about 200 million years ago. Fossil remains of the genus have been found in the Passaic Formation ( Newark supergroup ) in New Jersey , Connecticut, and Nova Scotia . At the time of the Upper Triassic, the region was located in the central, western Pangea .
features
Hypsognathus was the last and most specialized procolophonid. Characteristic were the bony spines that emanate from the quadratojugale, a skull bone, and possibly served as protection from predators. In larger specimens, the spines were provided with longitudinal grooves that might have held a sheath made of horn. Otherwise his skull was wide, the skull bones without any special surface structures. Its skin was probably spiked , similar to that of today's Australian thorn devil ( Moloch horridus ). The jaws of Hypsognathus had few teeth. Two sat on the premaxillary , four to five on each maxillary . He lived on plants.
literature
- Hans-Dieter Sues , Paul E. Olsen, Diane M. Scott, Patrick S. Sencer: Cranial Osteology of Hypsognathus fenneri, a Latest Triassic Procolophonid Reptile from the Newark Supergroup of Eastern North America. In: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Vol. 20, No. 2, 2000, ISSN 0272-4634 , pp. 275-284, doi : 10.1671 / 0272-4634 (2000) 020 [0275: COOHFA] 2.0.CO; 2 .
- Jinny Johnson: The Dinosaur Lexicon. Over 250 illustrations of the most important dinosaur species. Ravensburger Buchverlag, Ravensburg 2000, ISBN 3-473-35878-9 .
Web links
- Hypsognathus at Palæos