Paratypothorax

Paratypothorax is an extinct genus of aetosaur, known from a single species, Paratypothorax andressorum. It was a broadly distributed member of the group found in Germany, North America, and possibly parts of Gondwana. The best specimens come from Germany, though for more than a century they were mistakenly considered phytosaur armor. Paratypothorax was a large and wide-bodied typothoracine aetosaur, as well as the namesake of the tribe Paratypothoracisini.

== Discovery and distribution == thumb|left|1894 restoration of "Belodon", based on the skull of [[Nicrosaurus and the carapace of the aetosaur now known as Paratypothorax]]Paratypothorax was first known from specimens collected from the Heslach area near Stuttgart in Germany. These hail from the Stubensandstein (also known as the Löwenstein Formation), a mid-Norian age geological unit. Heslach has also produced many fossils of a smaller aetosaur, Aetosaurus. The holotype specimen of Paratypothorax, SMNS 5721, consists of a series of articulated osteoderms alongside a few hip and leg bones. Large osteoderms of Paratypothorax were long misidentified as phytosaur armor, and referred to Belodon. Among this formerly misidentified material is SMNS 19003, a fossil unearthed in 1945 from the Schlipf Quarry near Murrhardt. Further preparation revealed that SMNS 19003 was a complete skeleton with a well-preserved skull and fully articulated carapace. Paratypothorax was first recognized as an aetosaur in 1953, and was named as a new genus in 1985.