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 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.
References
Dentition types
Archosaurs
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