Rutiodon

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Rutiodon
Fossil range: Late Triassic
restoration of Rutiodon carolinensis
restoration of Rutiodon carolinensis
Conservation status
Extinct (fossil)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Sauropsida
(unranked) Archosauria
Order: Phytosauria
Family: Phytosauridae
Genus: Rutiodon
Emmons, 1856
Synonyms
  • Rhytiodon
    Cope, 1856 (lapsus)
  • Palaeonornis
    Emmons, 1857
  • Rhytidodon
    Cope, 1866 (lapsus)
  • Rhytidiodon
    Cope, 1866 (lapsus)
  • Metarhinus
    Jaekel, 1910 non Osborn, 1908 (preoccupied)
  • Rhytiodin
    Mehl, 1915 (lapsus)
  • Machaeroprosopus
    Mehl, Toepelmann & Schwartz, 1916
  • Machaeororosopus
    Gregory, 1962 (lapsus)

Rutiodon is an extinct genus of archosaurian reptile belonging to the phytosaur group. It was up to 7 m (23 ft) long.

Like other phytosaurs, Rutiodon strongly resembled a crocodile, with the only exception being the fact that its nostrils were positioned close to the eyes. Because of its enlarged front teeth, it most closely resembled the gharial. It probably caught fish and also snatched land animals from the waterside.

[edit] In popular culture

Rutiodon is one of the best-known phytosaurs and appeared in the 2001 Discovery Channel documentary When Dinosaurs Roamed America, shown hunting Coelophysis.

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