Thecodont dentition is a morphological arrangement in which the base of the tooth is completely enclosed in a deep socket of bone, as seen in crocodilians, dinosaurs and mammals, and opposed to
acrodont and
pleurodont dentition seen in
squamate
Squamata (, Latin ''squamatus'', 'scaly, having scales') is the largest order of reptiles, comprising lizards, snakes, and amphisbaenians (worm lizards), which are collectively known as squamates or scaled reptiles. With over 10,900 species, i ...
reptiles. Notably, this appears to be the ancestral tooth condition in
Amniota.
This morphology was once used as a basis for the now-defunct taxonomic group
Thecodontia
Thecodontia (meaning 'socket-teeth'), now considered an obsolete taxonomic grouping, was formerly used to describe a diverse "order" of early archosaurian reptiles that first appeared in the latest Permian period and flourished until the end of ...
.
References
Dentition types
Archosaurs
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