Rutiotomodon

Rutiotomodon is an extinct genus of trilophosaurid allokotosaur from the Middle Triassic of Germany.^[1]

Rutiotomodon Temporal range: Middle Triassic,[1] Anisian–Ladinian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Archosauromorpha
Clade:	†Allokotosauria
Order:	†Trilophosauria
Family:	†Trilophosauridae
Genus:	†Rutiotomodon Sues & Schoch, 2023
Species:	†R. tytthos
Binomial name
†Rutiotomodon tytthos Sues & Schoch, 2023

Discovery

Rutiotomodon was found in the Erfurt Formation. It is known from two jaw fragments: a right maxilla and a referred partial dentary that bears similarities to that of Trilophosaurus buettneri. It was described during 2023 by Hans-Dieter Sues and Rainer R. Schoch.^[1]

Etymology

The genus Rutiotomodon is derived from the Greek 'rhytis', which mean 'wrinkle' or 'fold', 'tomō' which means 'to cut', and 'odon', which means tooth. This means that it means wrinkled cut tooth, in reference to the ridges on the teeth in both the maxilla and dentary. The type species of Rutiotomodon is R. tytthos. 'Tytthos' is the Greek for small (a reference to its diminutive size of 50cm long) thus making the name for this species (Rutiotomodon tytthos) mean 'small wrinkled cut tooth.^[1]

Classification

In an analysis that was part of the species being named, Rutiotomodon was found to be more derived than Teraterpeton, in an unresolved polytomy with Coelodontognathus, which was recovered as a trilophosaurid.^[1]

Paleobiology

Sues has suggested that Rutiotomodon may have had a small beak whilst the jaws had tightly packed teeth with broad crowns for crushing plant matter.^[2]