Opisthodontosaurus

Opisthodontosaurus Temporal range: Early Permian
Jaw
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Family:	†Captorhinidae
Genus:	†Opisthodontosaurus Reisz et al., 2015
Type species
†Opisthodontosaurus carrolli Reisz et al., 2015

Opisthodontosaurus is an extinct genus of captorhinid reptile from the Early Permian of Oklahoma. The type species Opisthodontosaurus carrolli was named in 2015 on the basis of several articulated skeletons from the Dolese Brothers Limestone Quarry near Richards Spur. Before the description of these skeletons, the jaws and teeth of Opisthodontosaurus carrolli were thought to belong to a species of lepospondyl amphibian called Euryodus primus. Although captorhinid reptiles and lepospondyl amphibians are distantly related, the two species show a remarkable degree of evolutionary convergence in their dental anatomy. Both were likely durophagous, eating hard-shelled invertebrates.[1]

References

1. Reisz, R. R.; Leblanc, Aaron R. H.; Sidor, Christian A.; Scott, Diane; May, William (2015). "A new captorhinid reptile from the Lower Permian of Oklahoma showing remarkable dental and mandibular convergence with microsaurian tetrapods". The Science of Nature. 102 (9–10): 50. Bibcode:2015SciNa.102...50R. doi:10.1007/s00114-015-1299-y. PMID 26289932. S2CID 17161972.