Teraterpeton

Teraterpeton (meaning "wonderful creeping thing" in Greek) is an extinct genus of basal archosauromorph. A partial skeleton was described from the Late Triassic Wolfville Formation of Nova Scotia in 2003. It has many unique features seen in no other related form, including an elongated, toothless snout and large openings for the nostrils. Because of this, Teraterpeton was placed in its own family, Teraterpetidae.

Description

Teraterpeton has a very different appearance from other early archosauromorphs. It has a long skull with no teeth at the ends of the upper and lower jaws. Over the eye sockets, two bony projections are formed by the lacrimal and prefrontal bones. At the back of the jaws, the small, sharp teeth are closely spaced. They continue below the level of the eye, an unusual trait among early archosauromorphs. The upper tooth row does not run along the edge of the jaw, but is inset closer to mouth. An additional tooth row on the palate runs alongside the maxillary tooth row of the upper jaw. The teeth of the upper jaws fit closely, or occlude, with the teeth of the lower jaw. The upper jaw teeth have sharp cusps with indentations in front of them, while the lower jaw teeth have cusps with indentations behind them. The cusps of the upper teeth fit into the indentations of the lower teeth, while the cusps of the lower teeth fit into the indentations of the upper teeth.