This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2008) |
Letognathus Temporal range: Early Carboniferous
| |
---|---|
Scientific 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 | |
|
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.