Zatomus
| Zatomus Temporal range: Late Triassic | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Pseudosuchia |
| Genus: | †Zatomus Cope, 1871 |
| Species | |
| |
Zatomus is an extinct genus of pseudosuchian from the Late Triassic. Fossil remains have been found in North Carolina, United States. It is classified as a rauisuchian, a type of large carnivorous thecodontian archosaur.
History
[edit]The fossils of Zatomus were discovered in North Carolina by American geologist Ebenezer Emmons, who described and illustrated the fossils. These fossils consisted of teeth and dermal plates.[1]
Edward Drinker Cope thought the fossil teeth resembled those of a dinosaur similar to Megalosaurus, Laelaps, or the rauisuchian Teratosaurus, and in 1871 he named Zatomus sarcophagus, based on the teeth.[1]
These fossil teeth have subsequently been classified as belonging to rauisuchians.
References
[edit]- 1 2 Edward D Cope (1871). "Observations on the Distribution of Certain Extinct Vertebrata in North Carolina". Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 12: 211.
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