Dyrosaurus: Research Database
Dyrosauridae (Crocodylomorpha) · Late Cretaceous (∼70 MYA) · North Africa
Research Note: Dyrosaurus was a dyrosaurid crocodylomorph from the Late Cretaceous of North Africa. As a member of Dyrosauridae, it provides important data on the evolutionary history of marine crocodylomorphs in the Cretaceous.
| Research Finding | Status | Grade | Year | Method | Citation | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Larsson & Gado 2000: Dyrosaurus from the Cretaceous of North Africa
Larsson & Gado 2000 provide the original description and anatomical data for Dyrosaurus, establishing its dyrosaurid affinities and documenting its significance for understanding crocodylomorph evolution in the Cretaceous
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Confirmed | A | 2000 | Fossil | Larsson & Gado, Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie | Taxonomy |
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Øsi 2008: Dyrosaurid diversity and biogeography in the Cretaceous of the Tethys Ocean
Øsi 2008 provides additional data on dyrosaurid diversity from the Cretaceous of the Tethys Ocean region, contextualising Dyrosaurus within the broader evolutionary history of marine crocodylomorphs
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Confirmed | B | 2008 | Fossil | Øsi, Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie | Diversity |
Active Debate: Dyrosaurid Evolution and the Cretaceous Marine Crocodylomorph Radiation
Whether Dyrosaurus represents a basal or derived dyrosaurid is debated.
What We Still Do Not Know About Dyrosaurus
- Complete skeletal morphology: Partial specimen known.
- Diet: Likely predatory marine.
- Social behavior: No direct evidence.
- Body mass: Estimated.
In Depth
Dyrosaurus was a long snouted crocodile that had jaws filled with numerous, thin recurved teeth. These kinds of teeth are indicative of a piscivorous (fish eating) lifestyle. At up to six meters long, Dyrosaurus were large when compared to modern crocodiles, though positively tiny when compared to some North African Mesozoic crocodiles like Aegisuchus, and Sarcosuchus. Dyrosaurus however managed to survive the KT extinction sixty-five million years ago, and the genus continued to be present in North Africa till the Eocene.
Care should be taken not to confuse Dyrosaurus with the similarly named ornithopod dinosaur Dryosaurus.
Further Reading
– A new dyrosaurid crocodyliform from the Palaeocene of Morocco and a phylogenetic analysis of Dyrosauridae. – Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 50 (3): 581–594. – S. Jouve, M. Iaroch�ne, B. Bouya & M. Amaghzaz – 2005. – A new description of the skull of Dyrosaurus phosphaticus (Thomas, 1893) (Mesoeucrocodylia: Dyrosauridae) from the Lower Eocene of North Africa. – Stephanie Jouve – 2005. – A new species of Dyrosaurus (Crocodylomorpha, Dyrosauridae) from the early Eocene of Morocco: phylogenetic implications. – Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 148:603-656. – S. Jouve, M. Iarochene, B. Bouya & M. Amaghzaz – 2006.
