Ankistrodon Temporal range: Early Triassic,
| |
---|---|
Holotype in (A) lateral and (B) posterior views, with (C) a cross section of a tooth | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Clade: | Archosauromorpha |
Clade: | Archosauriformes |
Family: | †Proterosuchidae |
Genus: | †Ankistrodon Huxley, 1865 |
Type species | |
†Ankistrodon indicus Huxley, 1865
| |
Synonyms | |
|
Ankistrodon is an extinct genus of archosauriform known from the Early Triassic Panchet Formation of India. First thought to be a theropod dinosaur, it was later determined to be a proterosuchid. The type species is A. indicus, described by prolific British zoologist Thomas Henry Huxley in 1865.[1] One authority in the 1970s classified Ankistrodon as a senior synonym of Proterosuchus.[2] Ezcurra (2023) found Ankistrodon to be a nomen dubium, as the teeth are indistinguishable from those of Proterosuchus. A second Indian proterosuchid from the same formation, Samsarasuchus, was also described in the same study, making it the only known valid proterosuchid from India.[3]