Whatley, Robin L., et al. “A New Rhynchosaur (Reptilia, Archosauromorpha) from the Upper Triassic of Eastern North America.” Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, vol. 40, no. 2, 30 July 2020.
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STATEMENT:
In this article my colleagues and I describe a new species of fossil reptile Oryctorhynchus bairdi, gen. et sp. nov. from Nova Scotia, the first occurrence of the group Rhynchosauria in the Late Triassic Period of North America some 237 – 208 million years ago. (The only other rhynchosaur from North America, which I also worked on, is known from earlier in the Triassic.) My co-author, Hans-Dieter Sues, is a curator at the National Museum of Natural History where I did a postdoc project on early mammal communities. Prior to that much of my dissertation research consisted of drawing rhynchosaur fossils in museum collections from across ancient Pangea to piece together the evolutionary history of the group. Though rare in North America, rhynchosaurs were otherwise globally widespread during the Triassic and are often the most abundant herbivores found in terrestrial sediments. Sometimes referred to as the cows of the Triassic, they lived alongside the earliest dinosaurs, pterosaurs (the group pterodactyls belong to), turtles, lizards, crocodiles, and mammals. Like other rhynchosaurs, Oryctorhynchus has some pretty weird dental adaptations – including multiple rows of teeth on each upper jaw bone and a blade-like lower jaw that fits between the toothrows of the upper jaw!