Saurodon

Saurodon
Temporal range: Cretaceous
Reconstructed S. leanus skeleton, Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center, Woodland Park, Colorado
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: †Ichthyodectiformes
Family: †Saurodontidae
Genus: †Saurodon
Hays, 1830

Saurodon (from Greek: σαῦρος saûros, 'lizard' and Greek: ὀδούς odoús 'tooth')[1] is an extinct genus of ichthyodectiform fish from the Cretaceous.

Saurodon leanus is known to occur as early as the late Coniacian through the Santonian, in the Late Cretaceous. It was a large, predatory fish, with a length of more than 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in).[2] S. elongatus from Calcari di Melissano had length only around 90 cm (35 in).[3]

Species

S. leanus
Saurodon leanus left lateral view of 3D reconstruction in the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center
  • Saurodon elongatus Taverne & Bronzi, 1999[4]
  • 'Saurodon' intermedius Newton, 1878[5]
  • Saurodon leanus Hays, 1830

Sources

References

  1. ^ Roberts, George (1839). An etymological and explanatory dictionary of the terms and language of geology. London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longmans. p. 153. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  2. ^ "SAUROCEPHALUS, SAURODON AND PROSAURODON". 3 April 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  3. ^ "Volume 36, suppl. (2014) - Il mare nella Pietra". siba-ese.unisalento.it. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  4. ^ Taverne, L. and P. Bronzi. 1999. Les poissons cretaces de Nardò. 9°. Note complementaire sur le saurodontinae (Teleostei, Ichthyodectiformes): Saurodon elongatus, sp. nov. Studi e Ricerche sui Giacimenti Terziari di Bolca. VIII. Memor. Vol. Lorenso Sorbini, Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, Verona, pages 105-116. (Illustration of a nearly complete fish)
  5. ^ Cavin, Lionel; Forey, Peter L.; Giersch, Samuel (2013-02-01). "Osteology of Eubiodectes libanicus (Pictet & Humbert, ) and some other ichthyodectiformes (Teleostei): phylogenetic implications". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 11 (2): 115–177. doi:10.1080/14772019.2012.691559. ISSN 1477-2019. S2CID 83807640.
  • Media related to Saurodon at Wikimedia Commons


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