Dubreuillosaurus
Name:
Dubreuillosaurus
(Dunreuil's lizard).
Phonetic: Doo-brai-ul-o-sore-us.
Named By: Allain - 2005.
Synonyms: Poekilopleuron valesdunensis.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Theropoda, Megalosauridae, Megalosaurinae.
Species: D. valesdunensis
(type).
Diet: Carnivore/Piscivore.
Size: Holotype individual estimated to be about 5
meters long, but this individual is thought to be a juvenile/subadult.
Adult
size speculated to be about 9 meters long.
Known locations: France - Caen Formation.
Time period: Bathonian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Partial skeleton.
Discovered
in 1994 and originally classed as a species of Poekilopleuron,
Dubreuillosaurus was placed into its own genus in
2005 on the
basis of differences of the post cranial remains of the two.
Dubreuillosaurus itself was a large carnivore for
the Jurassic, and
would have probably been similar to the much more famous Megalosaurus.
Because
Dubreuillosaurus like other megalosaurids was found
in marine sediment
it has been suggested as being a coastal animal. While it may have
fed upon fish caught in tidal pools, it may have also been a beach
comber, perhaps scavenging the bodies of dead marine reptiles washed
ashore. This lifestyle is of course speculation based upon
circumstantial evidence, but unless remains of an inland individual
are recovered, it remains a good starting area for reconstructing the
living animal. The skull of Dubreuillosaurus does
lend some support
to the piscivorous fish hunting lifestyle as it is proportionately
long, something that would give Dubreuillosaurus
added reach to
snatch a fish from the water.
Further reading
- Discovery of a megalosaur (dinosauria, Theropoda) in the Middle
Bathonian of Normandy (France) and its implications for the phylogeny
of basal Tetanurae. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 22 (3):
548–563. - R. Allain - 2002.
- The postcranial anatomy of the megalosaur Dubreuillosaurus
valesdunensis (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Middle
Jurassic of
Normandy, France. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 25(4):850-858. -
R. Allain - 2005.
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