- Source: Basutodon
Basutodon was a genus of suchian archosaur from the late Carnian-early Norian-age Upper Triassic Lower Elliot Formation of Lesotho. The type species is B. ferox.
Discovery and naming
The holotype is a single tooth that was discovered alongside the remains of Euskelosaurus browni in the Lower Elliot Formation, Lesotho. The species Basutodon ferox was named and described by von Huene (1932).
"Likhoelesaurus ingens", an undescribed archosauriform from the Lower Elliot Formation of South Africa, may have been the same animal as Basutodon ferox.
Description
Basutodon was once classified as a prosauropod, as with Teratosaurus. Because of this, it is sometimes listed in older dinosaur books as an early theropod, or as a synonym of Euskelosaurus. It was probably neither of these things, though, and is much more likely to be a dubious non-dinosaur.
Basutodon is currently listed as a basal member of Suchia, although Tolchard et al. (2019) suggested that Basutodon may belong to Rauisuchia.