Parahenodus
Parahenodus was a strange, shell-crushing marine reptile that lived in the Late Triassic. It looked a bit like a turtle but was actually a placodont, a group of reptiles that ate hard-shelled animals. Only its skull has been found so far!12
When did it live?
How fast was it?
Fun facts
Parahenodus is known from just one partial skull, discovered between 2008 and 2015 in Spain.1
It was a close relative of Henodus, another placodont from Germany, and together they form the family Henodontidae.12
Parahenodus lived during the Late Triassic, about 237 to 205 million years ago, in the Carnian and Norian ages.31
Its name means 'near Henodus', because it looks very similar to Henodus but has some more primitive features.1
The discovery of Parahenodus helped scientists understand how the unusual skull of Henodontidae evolved over time.2
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Parahenodus
- Named by
- Miguel Chaves et al. 20183
- Group
- Sea reptiles
- Family / clade
- Henodontidae3
- Classification
- Placodontia > Sauropterygia3
- Age of the rocks
- 237 to 206 million years (Carnian / Norian)3
- Rock formations
- Keuper3
- Countries
- Spain3
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
- Discovery
- Parahenodus was named and described in 2018 by Carlos de Miguel Chaves, Francisco Ortega, and Adán Pérez-García based on a partial skull found in the Keuper Facies of El Atance, Spain.13
Where the facts come from
- Parahenodus (en.wikipedia.org)
- A new placodont from the Upper Triassic of Spain provides new insights on the acquisition of the specialized skull of Henodontidae (onlinelibrary.wiley.com)
- Parahenodus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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