Sinocyamodus

Say it: SY-no-sy-uh-MOH-dus

Name means: “Chinese cyamodont, referring to its family Cyamodontidae and its discovery in China”1

Ate: FishOther sea reptilesLate TriassicNot technically a dinosaur

Sinocyamodus was a marine reptile that lived during the Late Triassic, about 232 to 222 million years ago. It looked like a turtle with a flat, bony shell and a beak for crushing shellfish. This placodont was the first of its kind found in the eastern Tethys Ocean, changing what scientists thought about where these reptiles lived.1

Fun fact: this sea reptile swam while dinosaurs walked on land. Everyone calls them dinos, but they were a different branch of reptiles.

Lived

234 to 227 million years ago3

Late Triassic

Fossils found in

Xiaowa Formation, Guizhou, China1 2

Food

Fish1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Sinocyamodus was a placodont, a group of marine reptiles that were not dinosaurs but relatives of modern turtles.1

It was the first placodont discovered in the eastern Tethys Ocean, showing that these reptiles were not only found in the western Tethys as scientists once thought.1

Only one species is known: Sinocyamodus xinpuensis.1

The first adult specimen was reported in 2018, and it looked different from younger fossils, showing that Sinocyamodus changed as it grew.1

Sinocyamodus lived in a marine environment during the Late Triassic, about 232 to 222 million years ago.1 2

Its fossils have been found in the Xiaowa Formation in Guizhou, China.1 2

AI-made picture of Sinocyamodus — An AI-made picture of how Sinocyamodus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Sinocyamodus
Named by: unknown3
Group: Other sea reptiles
Family / clade: Cyamodontidae3
Classification: Placodontia > Sauropterygia3
Age of the rocks: 234 to 227 million years (Carnian)3
Rock formations: Xiaowa3
Countries: China3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Sinocyamodus was named by Li Chun in 2000 based on fossils from the Late Triassic of Guizhou, southwest China. It was the first placodont reptile found in the eastern Tethys region.1
Still debated: Scientists are still unsure about the exact size and weight of Sinocyamodus, as only a few fossils have been found.1

Where the facts come from

Sinocyamodus (en.wikipedia.org)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Sinocyamodus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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