Eurhinosaurus

Taxobox
name = "Eurhinosaurus"
fossil_range = Early Jurassic

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image_width=250px
image_caption=life restoration of "Eurhinosaurus", notice the elongated upper jaw
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
ordo = Ichthyosauria
familia = Leptopterygiidae
genus = "Eurhinosaurus" Abel, 1909
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision =
* "E. longirostris" type species
*"E. costini"
synonyms =
*"Excalibosaurus" McGowan, 1986

"Eurhinosaurus" ('well-nosed lizard') is an extinct genus of ichthyosaur from the Early Jurassic (Sinemurian - Toarcian) of Europe (England & Germany). It was a large genus, exceeding 6 m in length.Maisch MW, Matzke AT. 2000. The Ichthyosauria. "Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde Serie B (Geologie und Paläontologie)" 298: 1-159]

Palaeobiology

"Eurhinosaurus" looked like a regular ichthyosaur, with a fish-like body including a dorsal and caudal fin, and large eyes, but had one distinct feature that set it apart from other ichthyosaurs. Its upper jaw was twice as long as the lower jaw and covered with sidewards-pointing 'teeth', like the sawfish's. It might have been used to search vegetation and crustaceans on the ocean bottom for prey (mainly by "swishing" it's upper jaw against the sea floor) like a sawfish, or to violently stab prey to death like swordfish, sailfish and marlins do. Interestingly, a Miocene cetacean, "Eurhinodelphis", also developed a similar 'sword'.

References