Typothorax
genus of reptiles
Typothorax is an extinct genus of typothoracine aetosaur that lived in the Late Triassic. Its remains have been found in North America. Two species are known: T. coccinarum, the type species, and T. antiquum.
Description
Typothorax was an aetosaur, a pseudosuchian distantly related to modern crocodilians. Unlike modern crocodilians, aetosaurs were herbivorous. Typothorax and other aetosaurs possess small, leaf-shaped teeth that were unsuited for a diet consisting of meat.
Unlike some aetosaurs such as Desmatosuchus, Typothorax does not have large shoulder spikes. It does, however, have a pair of enlarged spikes on the neck projecting from the third row of scutes. It has lateral scutes that bear horns that are posteriorly hooked along its back, while its sides and underbelly are covered with ornamented scutes. Although fossils of aetosaurs are not as common as other Triassic archosaurs, with their armor plates being the most common, Typothorax has been represented by fewer skeletal elements than other aetosaurs.
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This entry incorporates text from “Typothorax” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.