Trilophosaurus

Trilophosaurus Temporal range: Triassic
Skeleton
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Subclass:	Diapsida
Infraclass:	Archosauromorpha
Order:	Trilophosauria
Family:	Trilophosauridae
Genus:	Trilophosaurus Case, 1928
Species
T. buettneri Case, 1928 (type) T. jacobsi Murry, 1987 T. dornorum Mueller and Parker, 2006
Synonyms
Chinleogomphius Sues and Olsen, 1993

Trilophosaurus (Greek for "Lizard with three ridges") was a lizard-like Triassic diapsid reptile related to the archosaurs. It was a herbivore up to 2.5 meters long. It had a short, unusually heavily-built skull, equipped with massive, broad flattened cheek teeth with sharp shearing surfaces for cutting up tough plant material. Teeth are absent from the premaxilla and front of the lower jaw, which in life were probably equipped with a horny beak.

restoration of Trilophosaurus

Trilophosaurus buettneri

The skull is also unusual in that the lower temporal opening is missing, giving the appearance of a euryapsid skull.^{[citation needed]} Because of this, the trilophosaurs were once classified with placodonts within Sauropterygia. Carroll (1988) suggests that the lower opening may have been lost to strengthen the skull.

Trilophosaurus is far known only from the Late Triassic of North America and Europe.

References

• Benton, M. J. (2000), Vertebrate Paleontology, 2nd ed. Blackwell Science Ltd, p. 144
• Carroll, R. L. (1988), Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution, W.H. Freeman & Co. p. 266

External links

• Archosauromorpha: Rhynchosaurs and Trilophosaurus at Palaeos