Trilophosaurus
| Trilophosaurus | ||||||||||||
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Trilophosaurus skull |
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||||
| Carnium to Norium ( Upper Triassic ) | ||||||||||||
| 235 to 208.5 million years | ||||||||||||
| Locations | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Trilophosaurus | ||||||||||||
| Gregory , 1945 |
Trilophosaurus was a two to three meter long diapsid reptile that lived in the Triassic in western North America. Characteristic of the animal is its small but solidly built 10 to 15 centimeter long skull, whichlacksthe lower skull window . The upward-facing upper skull windows lay close together and are separated by a high bone crest. Trilophosaurus had an edentulous premaxillary , the opposite tip of the lower jaw was also edentulous. Both jaw ends were probably provided with a horned beak. The molars were widened transversely to the longitudinal axis of the body and provided with sharp shear surfaces. The construction of the skull probably had the purpose ofgivingstrong jaw adductor support; an adaptation to hard plant food.
The rest of the skeleton of trilophosaurus corresponded with the long transverse processes provided vertebrae and the shape of the ilium (ilium) in the basin largely that of other primitive Archosaurierverwandten . With a few other, far less well-researched genera, Trilophosaurus forms the family Trilophosauridae.
literature
- Robert L. Carroll: Paleontology and Evolution of the Vertebrates . Thieme, Stuttgart (1993), ISBN 3-13774-401-6 .
- Joseph T. Gregory: Trilophosaurus, a triassic reptile . Texas Memorial Museum, Information Circular No. 27, 1943.
- Gregory: Osteology and relationships of Trilophosaurus . Univ. of Texas Publ. 4401, Bureau of Economic Geology, Contributions to Geology, 1944, pp. 273-359.
Web links
- Palæos Trilophosauridae