Description | Dakosaurus is an extinct genus within the family Metriorhynchidae that lived during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. It was large, with teeth that were serrated and compressed lateromedially (flattened from side to side). The genus was established by Friedrich August von Quenstedt in 1856 for an isolated tooth named Geosaurus maximus by Plieninger. Dakosaurus was a carnivore that spent much, if not all, its life out at sea. The extent of its adaptation to a marine lifestyle means that it is most likely that it mated at sea, but since no eggs or nests have been discovered that have been referred to Dakosaurus, whether it gave birth to live young at sea like dolphins and ichthyosaurs or came ashore like turtles is not known. The name Dakosaurus means "biter lizard", and is derived from the Greek dakos ("biter") and σαῦρος -sauros ("lizard").
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Source Data | |
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Rank | genus |
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Taxonomy (GBIF) | Life : Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Crocodylia : Metriorhynchidae : Dakosaurus |
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Taxonomy (PBDB) | Life : Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Eosuchia : Metriorhynchidae : Dakosaurus |
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Taxonomic Status (GBIF) | accepted |
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Classification (PBDB,GBIF) | |
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Scientific Name | Dakosaurus Quenstedt, 1856 |
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Name Published In | Quenstedt, Friedrich A. 1856. Sonst und Jetzt: Populäre Vortäge über Geologie. Verlag der H. Laupp'schen, Tübingen. |
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Opinions (PBDB) | Name | Rank | Opinion | Evidence | Author |
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Dakosaurus | genus | belongs to Amphicoelia | stated without evidence | Owen, 1861 | Dakosaurus | genus | subjective synonym of Steneosaurus | stated without evidence | Hulke, 1869 | Dakosaurus | genus | belongs to Mosasauria | stated with evidence | Sauvage, 1873 | Dakosaurus | genus | belongs to Dinosauri | stated without evidence | Quenstedt, 1882 | Dakosaurus | genus | belongs to Teleosauridae | stated without evidence | Delair, 1958 | Dakosaurus | genus | belongs to Metriorhynchidae | implied | Carroll, 1988 | Dakosaurus | genus | belongs to Crocodilia | second hand | Sepkoski, 2002 | Dakosaurus | genus | belongs to Metriorhynchidae | stated with evidence | Gasparini et al., 2006 | Dakosaurus | genus | belongs to Geosaurinae | stated with evidence | Young et al., 2010 | Dakosaurus | genus | belongs to Geosaurini | stated with evidence | Cau and Fanti, 2011 | Dakosaurus | genus | belongs to Neosuchia | stated with evidence | Nascimento and Zaher, 2011 | Dakosaurus | genus | belongs to Thalattosuchia | stated without evidence | Bronzati et al., 2012 | Dakosaurus | genus | belongs to Geosaurini | stated with evidence | Young, 2013 | Dakosaurus | genus | belongs to Neosuchia | stated without evidence | Sertich and O'Connor, 2014 | Dakosaurus | genus | belongs to Geosaurinae | stated with evidence | Parrilla-Bel and Canudo, 2015 |
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Status (PBDB) | extinct |
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Taxon Size (PBDB) | 3 |
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First Recorded Appearance | 164 - 157 Ma Jurassic |
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Last Recorded Appearance | 122 - 112 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous |
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Environment | marine (based on Thalattosuchia) |
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Motility | actively mobile (based on Thalattosuchia) |
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Diet | carnivore (based on Thalattosuchia) |
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Taphonomy | hydroxylapatite (based on Thalattosuchia) |
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Primary Reference (PBDB) | J. J. Sepkoski, Jr. 2002. A compendium of fossil marine animal genera. Bulletins of American Paleontology 363:1-560 |
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Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakosaurus |
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Sepkoski, Jr. J. J. (2002) A compendium of fossil marine animal genera, Bulletins of American Paleontology 363, 1-560 |
Meyer H. v. Zu meiner nun vor fast zehn Jahren gemachten und unausgesetzt verfolgten Entdeckung... [On my constantly pursued discovery, now made almost ten years ago...], Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geognosie, Geologie und Petrfaktenkunde 1839, 76-79 |
Meyer H. v. System der fossilen Saurier [Taxonomy of fossil saurians], Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geognosie, Geologie und Petrefakten-Kunde 1845, 278-285 |
Owen R. , Palaeontology, or a Systematic Summary of Extinct Animals and their Geological Relations. Second Edition. Adam and Charles Black, Edinburgh, 1-463 |
Sauvage H.-E. Notes sur les reptiles fossiles, Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France, série 3 1, 365-386 |
Delair J. B. (1958) The Mesozoic reptiles of Dorset. Part one, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society 79, 47-72 |
Carroll R. L. (1988) , Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution, 1-698 |
Gasparini Z., Pol D., et al (2006) An unusual marine crocodyliform from the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary of Patagonia, Science 311, 70-73 |
Buchy M.-C., Stinnesbeck W., et al (2007) Première mention du genre Dakosaurus (Crocodyliformes, Thalattosuchia) dans le Jurassique supérieur du Mexique, Bulletin de la Societe Geologique de France 178 5, 391-397 |
Young M. T., Brusatte S. L., et al (2010) The evolution of Metriorhynchoidea (Mesoeucrocodylia, Thalattosuchia): an integrated approach using geometric morphometrics, analysis of disparity, and biomechanics, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 158 4, 801-859 doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00571.x |
Cau A., Fanti F. (2011) The oldest known metriorhynchid crocodylian from the Middle Jurassic of North-eastern Italy: Neptunidraco ammoniticus gen. et sp. nov., Gondwana Research 19, 550-565 |
Nascimento P. M., Zaher H. (2011) The skull of the Upper Cretaceous baurusuchid crocodile Baurusuchus alberoi Nascimento & Zaher 2010, and its phylogenetic affinities, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 163, S116-S131 |
Bronzati M., Montefeltro F. C., et al (2012) A species-level supertree of Crocodyliformes, Historical Biology 24 6, 598-606 |
Young M. T. (2013) Filling the ‘Corallian Gap’: re-description of a metriorhynchid crocodylomorph from the Oxfordian (Late Jurassic) of Headington, England, Historical Biology doi:10.1080/08912963.2012.760559 |
Young M. T., de Andrade M. B., et al (2013) A new metriorhynchid crocodylomorph from the Lower Kimmeridge Clay Formation (Late Jurassic of England), with implications for the evolution of dermatocranium ornamentation in Geosaurini, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 169, 820-848 |
Herrera Y., Vennari V. V. (2014) Cranial anatomy and neuroanatomical features of a new specimen of Geosaurini (Crocodylomorpha: Metriorhynchidae) from west-Central Argentina, Historical Biology doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2013.861831 |
Sertich J. J. W., O'Connor P. M. (2014) A new crocodyliform from the middle Cretaceous Galula Formation, southwestern Tanzania, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 34 3, 576-596 |
Young M. T., Steel L., et al (2014) Largest known specimen of the genus Dakosaurus (Metriorhynchidae: Geosaurini) from the Kimmeridge Clay Formation (Late Jurassic) of England, and an overview of Dakosaurus specimens discovered from this formation (including reworked specimens from the Woburn Sands Formation), Historical Biology doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2014.915822 |
Parrilla-Bel J., Canudo J. I. (2015) Postcranial elements of Maledictosuchus riclaensis (Thalattosuchia) from the Middle Jurassic of Spain, Journal of Iberian Geology 41 1, 31-40 doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.5209/rev_JIGE.2015.v41.n1.48653 |
Nomenclator Zoologicus. A list of the names of genera and subgenera in zoology from the tenth edition of Linnaeus, 1758 to the end of 2004. Digitised by uBio from vols. 1-9 of Neave (ed.), 1939-1996 plus supplementary digital-only volume. http://ubio.org/NomenclatorZoologicus (as at 2006). - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera |
SN2000: Brands, S. J. (compiler) 1989-2005. Systema Naturae 2000. Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2006 version). Available online at http://sn2000.taxonomy.nl/. - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera |
Sepkoski, J. J., Jr. (2002). A compendium of fossil marine animal genera. Bulletins of American Paleontology. 363, 1-560. - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera |
Sonst und jetzt - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera |