Rutiodon Temporal range:
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Skeleton of Rutiodon carolinensis (AMNH 1) in the American Museum of Natural History | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Clade: | Archosauromorpha |
Clade: | Archosauriformes |
Order: | †Phytosauria |
Family: | †Parasuchidae |
Subfamily: | †Mystriosuchinae |
Genus: | †Rutiodon Emmons, 1856 |
Species | |
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Synonyms | |
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Rutiodon ("Wrinkle tooth") is an extinct genus of mystriosuchine phytosaurs from the Late Triassic of the eastern United States.[1] The type species of Rutiodon, Rutiodon carolinensis, encompasses a large number of skulls and assorted postcranial fossils discovered in the Cumnock Formation of North Carolina. Fossils referable to the species are also known from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Virginia. Rutiodon carolinensis is the most well-described species of phytosaur in eastern North America, though its validity as a natural taxon has been questioned. Some paleontologists also recognize a larger and more robust species, Rutiodon manhattanensis, which is known from teeth and postcranial fossils from New Jersey and Pennsylvania.