Temnodontosaurus

Temnodontosaurus
	T. trigonodon in the Stuttgart State Museum for Natural History
Temporal occurrence
	Lower Jurassic ( Hettangium - Toarcium )
	201.3 to 174.1 million years
Locations
	Europe ( Germany , England , France and Belgium );
Systematics
	Land vertebrates (Tetrapoda)
	Sauropsida
	Diapsida
	Ichthyosaur (Ichthyosauria)
	Temnodontosauridae
	Temnodontosaurus
Scientific name
	Temnodontosaurus
	Lydekker , 1889
species
	T. platyodon; T. eurycephalus; T. nuertingensis; T. trigonodon; T. acutirostris; T. azerguensis;

Temnodontosaurus ( Greek for “cut tooth lizard” from temno , “cut”, odont “tooth” and sauros “lizard”) is a genus of ichthyosaurs , a group of extinct marine reptiles, from the Lower Jurassic ( Hettangium - Toarcium ) of Europe . He was one of the main marine predators of the Lower Jurassic.

features

Temnodontosaurus is a large ichthyosaur with a length of 12 m. The skull is wide and the snout is very robust. The front fin has 3 fingers and an additional postaxial finger. The rear fin measures 2/3 the length of the front fin. The kink of the tail is only weakly developed with less than 35 °.

Paleobiology

Temnodontosaurus , as the top predator of the Jurassic Sea, preferred other vertebrates as prey on the one hand, and cephalopods on the other . This was also confirmed by findings with preserved stomach contents. The prey seems to differ depending on the species. The toothless species Temnodontosaurus azerguenisis will have preferred small and soft prey. Since, apart from the toothlessness, the physique does not differ, this means a decoupling of the prey preference and the hunting behavior. Overall, Temnodontosaurus was an agile ambulance hunter with a broad ecological spectrum.

Paleoecology

Together with Temnodontosaurus , cephalopods such as Hildoceras were often found.

Systematics and taxonomy

Front view of the skulls of Eurhinosaurus longirostris (above) and Temnodontosaurus trigonodon (below) in the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart

The following cladogram shows the relationships between Temnodontosaurus and the closest related taxa. Temnodontosaurus is the basal form of the Neoichthyosauria . Suevoleviathan is the sister group to the Thunnosauria .

Parvipelvia

Macgowania

Hudsonelpidia

Neoichthyosauria

Temnodontosaurus

Leptonectidae

Leptonectes

	Excalibosaurus

	Eurhinosaurus

	Suevoleviathan

	Thunnosauria

Geographical distribution

Members of the genus Temnodontosaurus was in different locations in Europe found : Temnodontosaurus platydon in Lyme Regis in Dorset (England) and Herlikofen and Dußlingen in Germany, additional copies in Arlon in Belgium. Temnodontosaurus burgundiae was found in Sainte-Colombe in the Yonne department , France.

Fossil record

Temnodontosaurus occurs for the first time in the Upper Hettangian and most recently in the Lower Toarcian ( Lower Jurassic ).

Selection of museums with copies

Temnodontosaurus in the State Museum for Natural History in Stuttgart

Germany

Museum am Löwentor in Stuttgart (State Museum for Natural History Stuttgart)

France

Muséum national d'histoire naturelle , Paris

Great Britain

Natural History Museum in London
Lyme Regis Museum , Lyme Regis , Dorset

Sources and References

literature

Christopher McGowan, Ryosuke Motani: Ichthyopterygia. Handbook of Paleoherpetology, Part 8, Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, 2003.

Web links

Commons : Temnodontosaurus - collection of images, videos and audio files

Cant get me enough of that sweet, sweet Temnodontosaurus , July 31, 2015

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b M. W. Maisch: Phylogeny, systematics, and origin of the Ichthyosauria - the state of the art. In: Palaeodiversity 3, 2010, pp. 151-214.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e J. E. Martin, V. Fischer, P. Vincent, G. Sauan: A longirostrine Temnodontosaurus (Ichthyosauria) with comments on Early Jurassic ichthyosaur niche partitioning and disparity. In: Palaeontology 55, No. 5, 2010, pp. 995-1005.
↑ ^a ^b ^c M. W. Maisch, AT Matzke: The Ichthyosauria. In: Stuttgart contributions to natural history series B (geology and palaeontology) 298, 2000, pp. 1–159.
↑ VR Böttcher: About the food of a Leptopterygius (Ichthyosauria, Reptilia) from the southern German Posidonia schist (Lower Jura) with remarks about the ichthyosaurs' stomach. In: Stuttgart contributions to natural history series B (geology and palaeontology) 155, 1989, pp. 1–19.
^ RD Marek, BC Moon, M. Williams, MJ Benton: The skull and endocranium of a Lower Jurassic Ichthyosaur based on digital reconstructions. In: Palaeontology 58, 2015, pp. 723-742
^ MW Maisch: Brief overview of the ichthyosaurs of the Posidonia slate with remarks on the taxonomy of the Stenopterygiidae and Temnodontosauridae. In: Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie Abhandlungen 209, No. 3, 1998, pp. 401-431.

[Maisch,_2010-1] M. W. Maisch: Phylogeny, systematics, and origin of the Ichthyosauria - the state of the art. In: Palaeodiversity 3, 2010, pp. 151-214.

[Martin_et_al.,_2010-2] J. E. Martin, V. Fischer, P. Vincent, G. Sauan: A longirostrine Temnodontosaurus (Ichthyosauria) with comments on Early Jurassic ichthyosaur niche partitioning and disparity. In: Palaeontology 55, No. 5, 2010, pp. 995-1005.

[Maisch_&_Matzke,_2000-3] M. W. Maisch, AT Matzke: The Ichthyosauria. In: Stuttgart contributions to natural history series B (geology and palaeontology) 298, 2000, pp. 1–159.

[Böttcher,_1989-4] VR Böttcher: About the food of a Leptopterygius (Ichthyosauria, Reptilia) from the southern German Posidonia schist (Lower Jura) with remarks about the ichthyosaurs' stomach. In: Stuttgart contributions to natural history series B (geology and palaeontology) 155, 1989, pp. 1–19.

[Marek_et_al.,_2015-5] RD Marek, BC Moon, M. Williams, MJ Benton: The skull and endocranium of a Lower Jurassic Ichthyosaur based on digital reconstructions. In: Palaeontology 58, 2015, pp. 723-742

[Maisch,_1998-6] MW Maisch: Brief overview of the ichthyosaurs of the Posidonia slate with remarks on the taxonomy of the Stenopterygiidae and Temnodontosauridae. In: Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie Abhandlungen 209, No. 3, 1998, pp. 401-431.