Trilophosaurus (SciiFii)

Trilophosaurus clerkii (Greek for "Clerk's lizard with three ridges") is a species of lizard-like trilophosaurid allokotosaur originally from the Late Triassic of North America and was once extinct, but has since been brought back from extinction and now lives in the Triassic Dinosaurs section of Cretaceous Park located in Sacramento, California. It is a herbivore up to 2.5 m long. It has a short, unusually heavily built skull, equipped with massive, broad flattened cheek teeth with sharp shearing surfaces for cutting up tough plant material. Teeth are absent from the premaxilla and front of the lower jaw, which in life are equipped with a horny beak. The skull is also unusual in that the lower temporal opening is missing, giving the appearance of a euryapsid skull. Because of this, the trilophosaurs were once classified with placodonts within Sauropterygia. The lower opening has been lost from the ancestors of trilophosaurs, most likely to strengthen the skull. It has a lifestyle and lifecycle that is almost identical to that of green iguanas, Cuban rock iguanas, and rhinoceros iguanas.
Category:Animals
Category:SciiFii
Category:Reptiles
Category:Cretaceous Park