Odonteus armiger

perforata

Odontochelys semitestacea (meaning "toothed turtle with a half-shell") is a Late Triassic relative of turtles. Before Pappochelys was discovered it was considered the oldest undisputed stem turtle. It is the only known species in the genus Odontochelys and the family Odontochelyidae. O. semitestacea was first described from three 220-million-year-old specimens excavated in Triassic deposits in Guizhou, China.Odontochelys differed grossly from modern turtles. Modern turtles have a horny beak without teeth in their mouth. In contrast, Odontochelys fossils were found to have had teeth embedded in their upper and lower jaws. One of the most striking features of turtles, both modern and prehistoric alike, are their dorsal shells, forming an armored carapace over the body of the animal. Odontochelys only possessed the bottom portion of a turtle's armor, the plastron. It did not yet have a solid carapace as most other turtles do. Instead of a solid carapace, Odontochelys possessed broadened ribs like those of modern turtle embryos that still have not started developing the ossified plates of a carapace.Aside from the presence of teeth and the absence of a solid carapace, a few other skeletal traits distinguish Odontochelys as basal compared to other turtles, extant and otherwise. The point of articulation between the dorsal ribs and the vertebrae are decidedly different in Odontochelys than in later turtles. In a comparison of skull proportions, the skull of Odontochelys is far more elongated pre-orbitally (in front of the eyes) compared to other turtles. The tail of the prehistoric turtle was longer in proportion to its body than other turtles. In addition, the transverse processes found in the tail are not fused such as in later turtles. Also, the scapulae of the examined specimens were identified to lack acromion processes. Taken together, these anatomical differences have been interpreted by the discoverers to mean that Odontochelys has some of the most primitive features ever seen in a turtle and is somewhat of a transitional fossil. Some scientists, however, are skeptical of this idea.Evidence that the plastron evolved before the carapace, as indicated by the lack of carapace in Odontochelys semitestacea is often viewed as an indication of the aquatic origin of turtles. The fossil was found in marine deposits, further supporting that the primitive turtle frequented shallow marine water. Since it is generally accepted that the shell arose to provide protection against predators, the semi-aquatic nature of turtles and the development of the plastron complement each other. Ancestral turtles with protection on their underside are more protected from predators that attack from below. Based on this interpretation, the development of the carapace was likely driven in a land animal.Reisz and Head (2008), however, have a different interpretation on the same specimen. Instead, they suggest that the carapace on O. semitestacea was in fact present; it just lacked ossification of some of its dermal components. With this interpretation, the authors suggest that either turtle shells originally evolved in aquatic environments, or this fossil represents the earliest turtle transferring from terrestrial environments to marine habitats.Even though the Odontochelys was found in marine deposits, it is still unclear whether it was primarily aquatic or a turtle in transition from marine to terrestrial habitats.

Odon Bujwid

Odontochilus
Blume, 1859

Odontarthria is a genus of snout moths described by Émile Louis Ragonot in 1893.

Bourdon, 2005

Odontaspis

The Odontoanserae is a purposed clade that includes the family Pelagornithidae (pseudo-toothed birds) and the clade Anserimorphae (the order Anseriformes and their stem-relatives). The placement of the pseudo-toothed birds in the evolutionary tree of birds has been problematic, with some supporting the placement them near the orders Procellariformes and Pelecaniformes based on features in the sternum.
Goosander looking up.jpg

* †Pelagornithidae
* Anserimorphae

Odontamblyopus lacepedii is a species of eel goby found in muddy-bottomed coastal waters in China, Korea and Japan. This species excavates elaborate vertical burrows up to 90 centimetres (35 in) long in the sea bed. This species can reach a length of 30.3 centimetres (11.9 in) SL.The species is edible.

Animalia

Mounted adult

Odontaspis cheethami

Odonto-stomatology

Odonestis pruni1.jpg

The Odontoanserae is a purposed clade that includes the family Pelagornithidae (pseudo-toothed birds) and the clade Anserimorphae (the order Anseriformes and their stem-relatives). The placement of the pseudo-toothed birds in the evolutionary tree of birds has been problematic, with some supporting the placement them near the orders Procellariformes and Pelecaniformes based on features in the sternum. In 2005 a cladistic analysis had found support in placing pseudo-toothed birds as the sister group to waterfowl. Evidence for this comes from shared characteristics in the skull such as lack a crest on the underside of the palatine bone and two condyles on the mandibular process of the quadrate bone, with the middle condyle beakwards of the side condyle. In addition to that both groups have similar features in their pelvic and pectoral regions. Furthermore a 2013 study on the growth pattern and structure of the pseudoteeth in Pelagornis mauretanicus shows more support of Odontoanserae as both groups have "soft rhamphotheca, or delayed hardening of the rhamphotheca." In addition to Pelagornithidae and Anseriformes paleontologists also have support in placing mihirungs (Dromornithidae) and diatrymas (Gastornithidae) into this group, as they too also share anatomical features in the skull and pelvic bones with waterfowl. The mihirungs and the diatrymas are more derived than the pseudo-tooth birds and are closer to Anseriformes. One hypothesis is that diatryams and mihirungs are successive sister groups to anseriforms and another hypothesis places mihirungs as crowned anseriforms closely related to the screamers (Anhimidae).Below is the general consensus of the phylogeny.However a 2017 paper by Worthy and colleagues have found an alternative phylogeny concerning Anserimorphae. By adding additional new characters, as well as incorporating several new taxa into established matrices, the authors have found diatrymas and mihirungs to be sister taxa and could be placed in the order Gastornithiformes. In addition they have found support that the family Vegaviidae (usually classified as crowned anseriforms or their sister taxon) are more related to gastornithiforms than to anseriforms (which they have created the monotypic order Vegaviiformes). The authors did note the bootstrap support is weakly supported and several alternative phylogenies in their paper found gastornithiforms to be stem galliforms instead. These too were also weakly supported as well. Below is a simplified phylogeny showing their one phylogeny supporting gastornithiforms as anserimorphs.

(Sibley & Ahlquist, 1988)
** †Gastornithiformes
** †Vegaviiformes
** Anseriformes

Odonestis is a genus of moths in the family Lasiocampidae described by Ernst Friedrich Germar in 1812. It consists of twenty-two species, which is found in Europe, Russia, Asia Minor, China and Japan.The genus also has a junior subjective synonym Pseudarguda.Matsumara 1932.

The skull of Pelagornis mauretanicus and the head of common merganser showing the serrated edge common in this group

Odontogomphus donnellyi distribution map.svg

Caterpillar

Late Cretaceous-Holocene,

Agassiz, 1838

Subgroups

Heterokonta

Odontoanserae