Azendohsaurus

Azendoh lizard

• Azendoh · Berber/Arabic toponym · Azendoh (a locality near Argana, Morocco)
• saurus · Greek · lizard

The name combines the place name "Azendoh" — a locality in the Argana Basin of Morocco where the first fossils were discovered — with the Greek word "sauros" (lizard), a standard suffix in reptile genus names. It was named to honour the site of discovery. The fossils were found in the Timesgadiouine Formation, and the genus was originally described as a dinosaur before later reassessment placed it among the archosauromorph reptiles.

Named by

Dutuit

Year named

1972

Period

Middle to Late Triassic

Stages

Anisian – Carnian

Found in

Timesgadiouine Formation, Argana Basin, Morocco; Isalo II Beds, Madagascar

Originally described as a prosauropod dinosaur based on fragmentary material (teeth and jaw fragments) from Morocco. A much more complete specimen from Madagascar was later referred to this genus (Flynn et al., 2010), which led to a thorough re-evaluation. Azendohsaurus is now considered NOT a dinosaur, but rather an early-diverging archosauromorph (an allokotosaur/trilophosaur relative) that convergently evolved herbivorous, leaf-shaped teeth similar to those of plant-eating dinosaurs. It is a notable example of convergent evolution in Triassic reptiles.