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Placodont means 'plate-like teeth'.
Placodonts were heavy-bodied reptiles that lived during the Triassic
Period (245-200 million years ago). They had short, stout bodies
with limbs only moderately specialised as paddles.
Placodonts were not adapted for swimming in the open ocean, and
were restricted to the shallow coastal waters of the Tethys
Sea.
Placodonts had large, flattened teeth, which were adapted for
crushing large molluscs.
Placodonts were relatively small, ranging from 1-3m long.
Advanced placodonts (e.g. Placochelys and Henodus)
had specialised dermal armour, superficially like that of a turtle
but made of many small plates rather than a few large ones.
Placodonts, like nothosaurs and plesiosaurs, probably laid eggs
on land.
The affinities of placodonts are not known, and they became extinct
at the end of the Triassic Period, leaving no descendents.
Author: Rachel Jennings
Last updated: 22/11/2005
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