Variodens

Variodens Temporal range: Late Triassic
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	†Allokotosauria
Order:	†Trilophosauria
Family:	†Trilophosauridae
Genus:	†Variodens Robinson, 1957
Type species
†Variodens inopinatus Robinson, 1957

Variodens is an extinct genus of trilophosaur. Fossils have been found from the Emborough Quarries in the Mendip Hills of Somerset, England. These fossils have been uncovered from a Late Triassic fissure fill within Carboniferous-age limestone. The type and only known species is V. inopinatus, named in 1957.

Variodens is unusual among most reptiles in that it has a heterodont dentition consisting of different types of teeth. The five anteriormost teeth at the front of the jaw are simple and conical in shape. The cheek teeth toward the back of the jaw are wide and have several cusps. They are either tricuspid or multicuspid. The anterior tricuspid teeth of Variodens are narrower medially (toward the inside of the mouth) than they are laterally (toward the outside of the mouth). Variodens also has distinctive bulbous-shaped penultimate teeth. The teeth of Variodens are very similar to the postcanine teeth of the cynodont Cricodon from the Middle Triassic Manda Formation of East Africa.

Unlike other trilophosaurs, Variodens did not have an edentulous, or toothless beak. Teeth are present throughout the jaw including its tip. This characteristic is also seen in some trilophosaurs from the Dockum Group of the southwestern United States.

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Wikipedia