Letognathus

Letognathus
Temporal range: Early Carboniferous
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Sarcopterygii
Clade: Tetrapodomorpha
Class: Rhizodontida
Order: Rhizodontiformes
Family: Rhizodontidae
Genus: Letognathus
Brazeau, 2005
Type species
Letognathus hardingi
(Dawson, 1868)
Synonyms
  • Rhizodus hardingi (Dawson, 1868)
  • Strepsodus hardingi (Dawson, 1868)

Letognathus is a genus of rhizodont tetrapodomorph that lived during the Carboniferous period.[1] Its remains come from the Blue Beach Member of the Horton Bluff Formation, near Hantsport, Nova Scotia. Like most rhizodonts, it was of relatively large size, had a large recurved fang at the symphysis of the lower jaw, and a row of three coronoid fangs along the length of the jaw in addition to its marginal dentition. Letognathus is important for rhizodont systematics because it retains a number of primitive features, such as ossified Meckel's cartilage, are not found in the genera Rhizodus and Strepsodus.

  1. ^ Brazeau, M.D. 2005. A new genus of rhizodontid (Sarcopterygii, Tetrapodomorpha) from the Lower Carboniferous Horton Bluff Formation of Nova Scotia, and the evolution of the lower jaws in this group. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 42:1481–1499