Neoaetosauroides
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Neoaetosauroides Temporal range: Late Triassic |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | †Aetosauria |
| Family: | †Stagonolepididae |
| Genus: |
†Neoaetosauroides Bonaparte, 1969 |
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Neoaetosauroides is an extinct genus of primitive aetosaur. Its type and only species is N. engaeus. Fossils have been found from the Los Colorados Formation outcropping along the Sierra Morada River in La Rioja, Argentina, and date back to the Norian age of the Late Triassic. It was the first aetosaur known from the formation, with remains being discovered in the 1960s.
The genus is one of the most well represented aetosaurs from South America, with some specimens being fully articulated. Two rows of dorsal osteoderms run paramedially along either side of the spine. Ventral osteoderms were also present. Unlike most other aetosaurs, the fourth finger was longer than the second and third. Additionally, the number of phalanges in the fifth digit was lower than other aetosaurs. The upper tooth row of Neoaetosauroides runs anteriorly to the tip of the elongated snout, evidence that is incompatible with the theory of a keratinous beak proposed for other aetosaurs.
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