| Fodonyx Temporal range: Middle Triassic,
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| Restoration of F. spenceri compared to a human | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Archosauromorpha |
| Order: | †Rhynchosauria |
| Family: | †Hyperodapedontidae |
| Genus: | †Fodonyx Hone & Benton, 2008 |
| Species | |
Fodonyx (meaning "digging claw") is an extinct genus of rhynchosaur from the middle Triassic epoch of Devon in England.[1] Its fossils (25 specimens) were discovered in Otter Sandstone Formation (late Anisian age) and were first assigned to Rhynchosaurus spenceri. This species was reassigned to its own genus, Fodonyx (the type and only species is Fodonyx spenceri) the holotype of which is EXEMS 60/1985/292, that described by David W. E. Hone and Michael J. Benton in 2008.[1] In 2010, one skull was reassigned to the new genus Bentonyx.[2] It is distinguished from other rhynchosaurs by a single autapomorphy, the ventral angling of the paraoccipital processes. In all other rhynchosaurs these processes angle dorsally or are horizontal. It is not known if this conferred any advantage to Fodonyx. Fodonyx was between 40 and 50 cm long.[1]
- ^ a b c David W. E. Hone; Michael J. Benton (2008). "A new genus of Rhynchosaur from the Middle Triassic of South-West England". Palaeontology. 51 (1): 95–115. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2007.00739.x.
- ^ Max C. Langer; Felipe C. Montefeltro; David E. Hone; Robin Whatley; Cesar L. Schultz (2010). "On Fodonyx spenceri and a new rhynchosaur from the Middle Triassic of Devon". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 30 (6): 1884–1888. doi:10.1080/02724634.2010.521901. S2CID 53405231.