0.5" Phytosaur Fossil Tooth Triassic Age Archosaur Redonda FM NM COA & Display

Location: Redonda Formation, New Mexico (Private Land Origin) 

Weight: 0.2 Ounces 

Dimensions: 0.5 Inches Long, 0.5 Inches Wide, 0.3 Inches Thick

Comes with a free Display.

Comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.

The item pictured is the one you will receive.

This is a real fossil.

Late Triassic 242 To 199 Million Years Old

Phytosaurs were formidable semi-aquatic archosaurs that dominated Upper Triassic ecosystems, displaying striking morphological similarities to modern crocodilians—a textbook case of convergent evolution. Despite their crocodile-like appearance and predatory lifestyle, phylogenetic analysis places them as basal crurotarsans, more distantly related to true crocodilians than previously assumed. The taxonomic designation "phytosaur" derives from an early misidentification suggesting herbivory; their robust dentition definitively establishes them as apex predators. Rutiodon, a prominent phytosaur genus from the Late Triassic of eastern North America, reached lengths of 3 to 8 meters and exemplified the sophisticated adaptations that enabled these archosaurs to thrive in aquatic niches before true crocodilians assumed comparable ecological roles during the Jurassic.