Rhadalognathus

Name Meaning: Rod jaw?

Location Found: Arizona (specimen is a cast)

Estimated Range: American Southwest

Geologic Era: Triassic

Size: Unknown, holotype skull is 17 inches long

Extinction: Late Triassic?

I could find very little information regarding this animal, aside from that it was an amphibian (if a rather unusual looking one) and that is is known from very scant remains. The name translation is a best guess on my part, though it does fit with the skull’s appearance. Given the size of the skull itself, I could make an estimate that this animal was probably well over a two meters long in life, assuming that the skull was relatively proportional to the body. In appearance, Rhadalognathus resembles a gavial, at least superficially. I would assume that it probably had similar habits, probably lurking in water, waiting for a fish or other small animal to happen by.