Basutodon

Basutodon Temporal range: Late Triassic, ~210–201.3 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Archosauria
Clade:	Pseudosuchia
Clade:	Suchia
Genus:	†Basutodon von Huene, 1932
Species:	†B. ferox
Binomial name
†Basutodon ferox von Huene, 1932

Basutodon was a genus of suchian archosaur from the late Carnian-early Norian-age Upper Triassic Lower Elliot Formation of Lesotho.[1] The type species is B. ferox.

Discovery and naming

The holotype is a single tooth that was discovered alongside the remains of Euskelosaurus browni in the Lower Elliot Formation, Lesotho. The species Basutodon ferox was named and described by von Huene (1932).[1]

"Likhoelesaurus ingens", an undescribed archosauriform from the Lower Elliot Formation of South Africa,[2] may have been the same animal as Basutodon ferox.[3][4]

Description

Basutodon was once classified as a prosauropod, as with Teratosaurus. Because of this, it is sometimes listed in older dinosaur books as an early theropod,[5] or as a synonym of Euskelosaurus. It was probably neither of these things, though, and is much more likely to be a dubious non-dinosaur.[6]

Basutodon is currently listed as a basal member of Suchia,[3] although Tolchard et al. (2019) suggested that Basutodon may belong to Rauisuchia.[7]

References

1. von Huene, F. (1932). Die fossile Reptil-Ordnung Saurischia, ihte Entwicklung und Geschichte. Monographien zur Geologie und Palaeontologie 1(4). 361 p. [German]
2. Ellenberger and Ginsberg, (1966). Le gisement de Dinosauriens triasiques de Maphutseng (Basutoland) et l'origine des Sauropodes [The Triassic dinosaur locality of Maphutseng (Basutoland) and the origin of sauropods]. Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Série D. 262, 444–447.
3. Kitching, J.W. & Raath, M.A. (1984). Fossils from the Elliot and Clarens Formations (Karoo Sequence) of the Northeastern Cape, Orange Free State and Lesotho, and a Suggested Biozonation Based on Tetrapods. 25: 111-125.
4. Knoll, F (2004). Review of the tetrapod fauna of the "Lower Stormberg Group" of the main Karoo Basin (southern Africa): Implication for the age of the Lower Elliot Formation. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France. 175(1), 73–83.
5. Lambert, D. (1983). A Field Guide to Dinosaurs. Avon Books:New York, p. 74. ISBN 0-380-83519-3.
6. Glut, D.F. (1997). “Excluded Genera”, Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia. McFarland & Company:Jefferson, North Carolina, 1005-1010. ISBN 0-89950-917-7.
7. Tolchard, Frederick; Nesbitt, Sterling J.; Desojo, Julia B.; Viglietti, Pia; Butler, Richard J.; Choiniere, Jonah N. (2019). "'Rauisuchian' material from the lower Elliot Formation of South Africa and Lesotho: Implications for Late Triassic biogeography and biostratigraphy". Journal of African Earth Sciences. 160: 103610. Bibcode:2019JAfES.16003610T. doi:10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2019.103610. S2CID 202902771.