Exaeretodon

Ex-ay-ret-o-don.
Published on

Benjamin Gutierrez

Vertebrate Paleontologist

Benjamin Gutierrez is a leading expert on dinosaurs, particularly the mighty theropods. His fieldwork in South America has uncovered new species and provided insights into dinosaur social structures.

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Name

Exaeretodon.

Phonetic

Ex-ay-ret-o-don.

Named By

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Synapsida,‭ ‬Therapsida,‭ ‬Cynodontia,‭ ‬Traversodontidae,‭ ‬Gomphodontosuchinae.

Diet

Herbivore‭?

Species

E.‭ ‬frenguellii‭

Size

Up to‭ ‬1.8‭ ‬meters long.

Known locations

Argentina‭ ‬-‭ ‬Ischigualasto Formation.‭ ‬Brazil‭ ‬-‭ ‬Santa Maria Formation.‭ ‬India‭ ‬-‭ ‬Lower Maleri Formation.

Time Period

Ladinian to Norian of the Triassic.

Fossil representation

Many individuals.

In Depth

       Exaeretodon seems to have been more herbivorous given that the teeth and jaw structure of Exaeretodon seem to be more suited to grinding.‭ ‬One interesting point of note however is that very young juveniles had no teeth.‭ ‬This suggests that young Exaeretodon had to stay with the mother for an extended period of time before their adult teeth came in and they were able to process their own food.

       At just under two meters long‭ ‬Exaeretodon was certainly one of the larger cynodonts,‭ ‬though genera such as Diademodon were slightly larger.

Further Reading

-‭ ‬A new cynodont reptile from the Triassic of India.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Journal of Paleontology‭ ‬56:203-214.‭ ‬-‭ ‬S.‭ ‬Chatterjee‭ ‬-‭ ‬1982. -‭ ‬The taxonomy of the traversodontid cynodonts Exaeretodon and Ischignathus.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia‭ ‬10‭ (‬2‭)‬:‭ ‬133‭–‬136.‭ ‬-‭ ‬J.‭ ‬Liu‭ ‬-‭ ‬2007.

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