''Termatosaurus'' ("end lizard", because it came from the end of the Upper Triassic) is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

archosaur Archosauria () is a clade of diapsids, with birds and crocodilians as the only living representatives. Archosaurs are broadly classified as reptiles, in the cladistic sense of the term which includes birds. Extinct archosaurs include non-avia ...

known from several tooth specimens differentiated between two species. Its remains come from the Upper Triassic and was once thought to have survived until the

Early Jurassic The Early Jurassic Epoch (geology), Epoch (in chronostratigraphy corresponding to the Lower Jurassic series (stratigraphy), Series) is the earliest of three epochs of the Jurassic Period. The Early Jurassic starts immediately after the Triassic-J ...

, but the Jurassic remains were redescribed as plesiosaur remains. It has only been found in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. and two species are known of this animal: the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specim ...

, ''Termatosaurus albertii'', named by Meyer and T. Plieninger in 1844; and ''T. crocodilinus'', by Quenstedt (1858). It is very obscure and apparently considered to be dubious. According to

Oskar Kuhn Oskar Kuhn (7 March 1908, Munich – 1990) was a German palaeontologist. Life and career Kuhn was educated in Dinkelsbühl and Bamberg and then studied natural science, specialising in geology and paleontology, at the University of Munich, f ...

, ''Termatosaurus'' is a

plesiosaur The Plesiosauria (; Greek: πλησίος, ''plesios'', meaning "near to" and ''sauros'', meaning "lizard") or plesiosaurs are an order or clade of extinct Mesozoic marine reptiles, belonging to the Sauropterygia. Plesiosaurs first appea ...

(of the

Rhomaleosauridae Rhomaleosauridae is a family of plesiosaurs from the Earliest Jurassic to the latest Middle Jurassic (Hettangian to Callovian stages) of Europe, North America, South America and possibly Asia. Most rhomaleosaurids are known from England, many ...

), while according to other sources, it is a phytosaur.H. v. Meyer. (1845). System der fossilen Saurier axonomy of fossil saurians ''Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geognosie, Geologie und Petrefakten-Kunde'' 1845:278-285 Currently, ''Termatosaurus'' is seen as a dubious archosaur.

Gallery

File:Termatosaurus albertii.JPG,

Tooth A tooth ( : teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, ...

of ''T. albertii''

References

Nomina dubia Phytosaurs Late Triassic reptiles of Europe Fossil taxa described in 1844 Taxa named by Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer Prehistoric reptile genera {{triassic-reptile-stub