Rutiodon

Taxobox
name = "Rutiodon"
fossil_range = Late Triassic

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image_width = 250px
image_caption = restoration of "Rutiodon carolinensis"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
unranked_ordo = Archosauria
ordo = Phytosauria
familia = Phytosauridae
genus = "Rutiodon"
genus_authority = 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 archosaur belonging to the family Phytosauridae. It lived during the Late Triassic Period, and was up to 3 meters (10 ft) long.

Like other phytosaurs, "Rutiodon" strongly resembled a crocodile, with the only exception being that its nostrils were positioned close to the eyes. Due to its enlarged front teeth, it most closely resembled the gharial Fact|date=May 2008. It probably caught fish and also snatched land animals from the waterside. It was an ambush predator. The animal is known from fossils in Europe (Germany and Switzerland) as well as North America (Arizona, New Mexico, North Carolina, Texas). Its tail was covered with armour.

In popular culture

"Rutiodon" is one of the best-known phytosaurs and appeared in the 2001 Discovery Channel documentary "When Dinosaurs Roamed America", shown trying to attack a "Coelophysis" near the water's edge and missing.

Sources

* [http://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/emmonsml/emmons.html Geological report of the midland counties of North Carolina] by Ebenezer Emmons. New York, G.P. Putnam & Co.; Raleigh, H.D. Turner, 1856.
* [http://www.dinoruss.com/de_4/5c5e7f7.htm "Rutiodon" in The Dinosaur Encyclopaedia] at Dino Russ's Lair.
* http://www.paleodirect.com/phyto1.htm
* http://www.dinosaurcollector.150m.com/NewBlood.html