Phalarodon
Phalarodon was a fast-swimming marine reptile that lived in the Triassic seas, not a dinosaur. It had a long body and a skull full of strong teeth for catching fish and squid.1
When did it live?
How big was it?
How long was it?
as long as 5 dogs nose to tail🍌as long as 28 bananas end to end🏊could swim the length of a big swimming pool (50 m) in 3.9 secondsHow big was Phalarodon compared to YOU?
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Fun facts
Phalarodon's name means 'boss tooth' because its teeth look like the boss on a helmet cheek-plate.1
It lived during the Middle Triassic, about 247 to 242 million years ago, when the supercontinent Pangaea was still together.1
Phalarodon could swim across the Tethys Ocean, as shown by fossils found in both Germany and China, which were on opposite sides of that ancient sea.1
Its skull had a high ridge on top called a sagittal crest, which helped anchor strong jaw muscles for a powerful bite.1
Some scientists think Phalarodon atavus had a skull up to 80 centimetres (2.6 feet) long, making it a large mixosaurid, but others say the fossils are too broken to be sure.1
Phalarodon shared its home with other marine reptiles like Cymbospondylus and Omphalosaurus in the Fossil Hill Member of Nevada.1
The teeth of Phalarodon were blunt and slightly flattened, perfect for crushing hard-shelled prey like ammonites.1
Most asked questions about Phalarodon
?How big was Phalarodon?
Scientists are not sure. Some estimate Phalarodon atavus could reach about 4.5 to 5 metres (15 to 16 feet) long, but others think it was only about 1 metre (3.3 feet) long like a small mixosaurid.1
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Phalarodon
- Named by
- Merriam 19103
- Group
- Ichthyosaurs
- Family / clade
- Mixosauridae3
- Classification
- Ichthyosauria > Ichthyosauromorpha3
- Age of the rocks
- 251 to 237 million years ()3
- Rock formations
- Sulphur Mountain, Guanling, Jena3
- Countries
- Canada, Germany, USA, China, Svalbard3
- Fossil records
- 14 in the Paleobiology Database3
- Discovery
- Phalarodon was named by John Campbell Merriam in 1910, based on a skull and jaw fragments found in the West Humboldt Range of Nevada, USA.1
- Still debated
- Scientists still debate whether Phalarodon was a small mixosaurid about 1 metre long or a larger one reaching up to 5 metres, because many fossils are just skull pieces.1
Where the facts come from
- Phalarodon (en.wikipedia.org)
- The first specimen of the Middle Triassic Phalarodon atavus (Ichthyosauria: Mixosauridae) from South China, showing postcranial anatomy and peri-Tethyan distribution (onlinelibrary.wiley.com)
- Phalarodon in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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