| Placodus Temporal range: Triassic | |
|---|---|
| |
| An artist's illustration of Placodontia gigas | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Sauropsida |
| clade: | Placodontiformes |
| Superorder: | †Sauropterygia |
| Order: | †Placodontia |
| Family: | †Placodontidae Cope, 1871 |
| Genus: | †Placodus Agassiz, 1833 |
| Referred species | |
| |
Placodus, meaning flat toothed, was the largest of the placodonts, an extinct group of marine reptiles related to plesiosaurs. It lived from 245-235 MYA in the Middle Triassic.
Paleobiology[]
Size[]
Weighing about 500 pounds and measuring 12 feet long, Placodus was double the size of the nearest competitor in size for the plcodonts Paraplacodus.
Diet[]
Like all of the placodonts, Placodus was a shellfish eater.
In popular culture[]
- Placodus appeared in PBS The Dinosaurs! in the episode The Monsters Emerge.
Gallery[]
.jpg "Placodus (1).jpg (15 KB)")