A happy Henodus encounters the Triassic fish Saurichthys. Although it looked like a turtle, its carapace was not connected to the ribs and was made up of many smaller bone-plates, whereas in turtles it consists of a few large plates fused to the ribs. Henodus could also not retract its head and limbs into its shell. Uniquely among marine reptiles, it was a herbivore. 
#ichthyology #placodonts #placodont #triassic #fossil #fossils #paleontology #marinereptile #marinereptiles #sauropterygian

A happy Henodus encounters the Triassic fish Saurichthys. Although it looked like a turtle, its carapace was not connected to the ribs and was made up of many smaller bone-plates, whereas in turtles it consists of a few large plates fused to the ribs. Henodus could also not retract its head and limbs into its shell. Uniquely among marine reptiles, it was a herbivore.

#ichthyology #placodonts #placodont #triassic #fossil #fossils #paleontology #marinereptile #marinereptiles #sauropterygian