Skip to content
Category

Fossils of North Carolina

page 1
Rutiodon
Rutiodon (meaning "wrinkle tooth") is an extinct genus of mystriosuchine phytosaurs from the Late Triassic of the eastern United States. The type species of Rutiodon, Rutiodon carolinensis, encompasses a large number of skulls and assorted postcranial fossils discovered in the Cumnock Formation of North Carolina. Fossils referable to the species are also known from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Virginia. Rutiodon carolinensis is the most well-described species of phytosaur in eastern North America, though its validity as a natural taxon has been questioned. Some paleontologists also recognize
Pelagornis
Pelagornis is an extinct genus of prehistoric pseudotooth birds, a group of extinct seabirds. Species span from the Oligocene to the Early Pleistocene. Members of Pelagornis represent among the largest pseudotooth birds, with one species, P. sandersi, having the widest wingspan of any bird known.
Carnufex
Carnufex is an extinct genus of crocodylomorph suchian from the Late Triassic of North America. The genus was first described in 2015 by Zanno et al., who named the binomial Carnufex carolinensis, meaning "Carolina butcher". Two specimens are known, the holotype skull and skeleton NCSM 21558, and the referred humerus NCSM 21623. The specimens are from the Carnian-age Pekin Formation, which dates to 231 million years ago. Based on the holotype, Carnufex would have been about long and tall, although it may have gotten larger due to the holotype not being fully grown.
Cynthiacetus
Cynthiacetus is an extinct genus of basilosaurid early whale that lived during the Late Eocene (Bartonian-Priabonian, .) Specimens have been found in the southeastern United States and Peru (Otuma Formation).
Otodus angustidens
extinct shark species
Carcharocles auriculatus
species of fossil shark
Arganodus
Arganodus is an extinct genus of freshwater lungfish that had a wide global distribution throughout much of the Triassic period, with a single species surviving across Gondwana into the Cretaceous. It is the only member of the family Arganodontidae, although it is sometimes placed in the Ceratodontidae or synonymized with the genus Asiatoceratodus.
Uatchitodon
Uatchitodon is an extinct genus of Late Triassic reptile known only from isolated teeth. Based on the structure of the teeth, Uatchitodon was probably a carnivorous archosauromorph. Folded grooves on the teeth indicate that the animal was likely venomous, with the grooves being channels for salivary venom. The teeth are similar to those of living venomous squamates such as Heloderma and venomous snakes. Uatchitodon and Microzemiotes are the earliest known potentially venomous reptiles.