Hyperodapedon

Hyperodapedon (from Greek: ῠ̔πέρ hupér, 'above' and Greek: δάπεδον dápedon, 'pavement') is an extinct genus of rhynchosaur reptiles which lived during Late Triassic period. Like other rhynchosaurs, it was a heavily built archosauromorph, distantly related to archosaurs such as crocodilians and dinosaurs. Hyperodapedon in particular was part of the subfamily Hyperodapedontinae, a specialized rhynchosaurian subgroup with broad skulls, beaked snouts, and crushing tooth plates on the roof of the mouth.

Hyperodapedon remains one of the most widespread and well-understood rhynchosaurs due to its abundance of fossils on several continents. It was named and discovered by Thomas Henry Huxley in 1859, based on H. gordoni, a species from Scotland. It has also been reported from Africa, Asia (India), and North and South America, though some species were later split off into their own genera. An Indian species, H. huxleyi, is also known by the genus name Paradapedon. Some of the early South American finds were described under the name Scaphonyx, which is often considered a junior synonym of Hyperodapedon. The relationship between Hyperodapedon species is a source of disagreement, and some studies argue that each species deserves its own genus. Hyperodapedon fossils are abundant and biostratigraphically significant in strata of the late Carnian stage, such as the Ischigualasto Formation of Argentina and the Upper Santa Maria Formation of Brazil.