恐龍卡第 1349 張，共 2 027 張

Palatodonta

名字的意思： “palate tooth, named for the teeth on its palate bone”1

吃：肉海生爬蟲類三疊紀中期嚴格來說不是恐龍

Palatodonta was a small marine reptile that lived in the sea about 245 million years ago. It had a row of pointed teeth on the roof of its mouth, which it probably used to sift through soft mud for tiny prey. It was an early cousin of the placodonts, reptiles with flat crushing teeth for eating shellfish.1 2

趣味小知識：這種海生爬蟲類在海裡游泳的時候，恐龍正在陸地上走路。大家都叫牠們恐龍，但牠們其實是爬蟲類的另一個分支。

生存年代

247 到 241 百萬年前4

三疊紀中期

化石發現地

Winterswijk, Gelderland province, Netherlands1 3

最高速度

時速約 23 公里（14 英里）

游泳, 估計值

牠生活在什麼時候？

三疊紀

侏羅紀

白堊紀

2 億 5200 萬年前20114566，小行星撞地球

牠有多快？

走路的人 時速約 5 公里 (3 mph)

騎腳踏車的小朋友 時速約 12 公里 (7 mph)

Palatodonta 時速約 23 公里 (14 mph)

一匹飛奔的馬 時速約 65 公里 (40 mph)

一隻獵豹 時速約 100 公里 (62 mph)

酷東西

趣味知識

Palatodonta had a single row of at least 10 narrow, pointed teeth on its palate, which is different from the broad, flat crushing teeth of later placodonts.1

Its front teeth were blunt, peg-like, and slightly forward-pointing, similar to those of the placodont Placodus, which used them to pick up hard-shelled prey.1

The only known fossil is a juvenile skull, so scientists think it was a young animal when it died.1

Palatodonta lived in the early Middle Triassic, about 247 to 241 million years ago, in a shallow sea that covered part of Europe.3 1

Its skull had an L-shaped cheek bone, a feature that links it to early placodonts.1

Palatodonta is the most basal known placodontiform, meaning it branched off before true placodonts evolved their specialized crushing teeth.1

Palatodonta 的 AI 繪圖 — 這是電腦根據科學家目前的知識，用 AI 畫出 Palatodonta 可能的樣子。這只是猜測：真正的動物可能長得不一樣，也沒有人知道牠真正的顏色。

你們都在問

關於 Palatodonta 最常被問的問題

?How big was Palatodonta?

The only known fossil is a juvenile skull about 2 centimetres (0.8 inches) long. Adults might have been slightly larger, but no adult fossils have been found.1

?What did Palatodonta eat?

It used its blunt, peg-like front teeth to sift through soft mud on the seafloor for small, soft prey like worms or tiny crustaceans.1

?Where did Palatodonta live?

It lived in a shallow sea that covered what is now the Netherlands and other parts of Europe during the early Middle Triassic.2 1

?When did Palatodonta live?

It lived during the early Middle Triassic, about 247 to 241 million years ago.4 2

迷思破解王

迷思： Some people might think Palatodonta was a dinosaur because it lived in the Mesozoic era.

真相： Palatodonta was a marine reptile, specifically a sauropterygian, not a dinosaur. Dinosaurs were land reptiles, and Palatodonta lived in the sea.2 1

給恐龍專家

學名: Palatodonta
命名者: Neenan et al. 20134
類群: 海生爬蟲類
科 / 演化支: Placodontiformes4
分類: Sauropterygia4
岩石的年代: 247 到 241 百萬年 ()4
岩層: Vossenveld4
國家: 荷蘭4
化石紀錄: The Paleobiology Database 收錄 1 筆4
發現: Palatodonta was named in 2013 by Neenan and colleagues, based on a fossil skull found by Remco Bleeker in Winterswijk, the Netherlands. The species name bleekeri honors its discoverer.1 3
仍有爭議: Scientists are still debating exactly how Palatodonta is related to other marine reptiles, and whether it truly represents the European origin of placodonts or if they originated elsewhere.1