Basutodon
Encyclopedia
Basutodon was a genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of rauisuchia
Rauisuchia
Rauisuchia is a group of predatory and mostly large Triassic archosaurs. As a clade, Rauisuchia includes these Triassic forms and all crocodylomorphs, which are descendants of Triassic rauisuchians. The group in its traditional sense is paraphyletic, because it does not include crocodylomorph...

n archosaur
Archosaur
Archosaurs are a group of diapsid amniotes whose living representatives consist of modern birds and crocodilians. This group also includes all extinct non-avian dinosaurs, many extinct crocodilian relatives, and pterosaurs. Archosauria, the archosaur clade, is a crown group that includes the most...

 from the late Carnian
Carnian
The Carnian is the lowermost stage of the Upper Triassic series . It lasted from about 228.7 till 216.5 million years ago . The Carnian is preceded by the Ladinian and is followed by the Norian...

-early Norian
Norian
The Norian is a division of the Triassic geological period. It has the rank of an age or stage . The Norian lasted from 216.5 ± 2.0 to 203.6 ± 1.5 million years ago. It was preceded by the Carnian and succeeded by the Rhaetian.-Stratigraphic definitions:The Norian was named after the Noric Alps in...

-age Upper Triassic Lower Elliot Formation of Lesotho
Lesotho
Lesotho , officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave, surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is just over in size with a population of approximately 2,067,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The name...

. It is based on teeth that were once confused with prosauropod remains, as with Teratosaurus
Teratosaurus
Teratosaurus was a genus of rauisuchian known from the Triassic Stubensandstein of Germany...

. Because of this, it is sometimes listed in older dinosaur books as an early theropod, or as a synonym of Euskelosaurus
Euskelosaurus
Euskelosaurus was a semi-bipedal dinosaur from the Late Triassic. It was a prosauropod that lived in the Late Triassic Period, in present-day South Africa, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe. It was first described by Thomas Henry Huxley in 1866 as Euskelesaurus brownii based on holotype BMNH R1625, limb and...

. It was probably neither of these things, though, and is much more likely to be a dubious
Nomen dubium
In zoological nomenclature, a nomen dubium is a scientific name that is of unknown or doubtful application...

non-dinosaur.
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