Temnodontosaurus

Temnodontosaurus platyodon · Temnodontosaurus was a large, dolphin-like marine reptile called an ichthyosaur that lived in the seas of Early Jurassic Europe and possibly Chile.

It lived about 201.4 to 175.6 million years ago.

Temnodontosaurus
Photo: Creator:Dmitry Bogdanov, CC BY 3.0
Temnodontosaurus
Photo: Dmitry Bogdanov, CC BY 3.0
Temnodontosaurus
Photo: Ghedoghedo, CC BY-SA 4.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassReptilia
OrderIchthyosauria
FamilyTemnodontosauridae
GenusTemnodontosaurus
SpeciesTemnodontosaurus platyodon

Where its fossils were found

Western Europe (England, Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg); possibly Chile.

Fun facts

  • Temnodontosaurus quite possibly had the largest eyes in the whole animal kingdom, rivaling those of the colossal squid.
  • Despite its enormous eyes, Temnodontosaurus had blind spots directly above its head because of the angle its eyes pointed.
  • One fossil's stomach held the remains of three young Stenopterygius plus lots of cephalopod hooks, showing it was an apex predator that mostly ate molluscs.
  • Its flippers had serrated edges that may have acted as noise-cancelling structures, helping it sneak up on prey while hunting in the dark.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).