Saurodon

Saurodon (from Greek: σαῦρος saûros, 'lizard' and Greek: ὀδούς odoús 'tooth')^[1] is an extinct genus of ichthyodectiform ray-finned fish from the Late Cretaceous.

Saurodon Temporal range: Santonian to early Maastrichtian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Possible late Maastrichtian records
Reconstructed S. leanus skeleton, Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center, Woodland Park, Colorado
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	†Ichthyodectiformes
Family:	†Saurodontidae
Genus:	†Saurodon Hays, 1830

Saurodon leanus is known to occur as early as the Santonian to the early Campanian. It was a large, predatory fish, with a length of more than 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in).^[2] S. elongatus from the late Campanian or early Maastrichtian of Calcari di Melissano, Italy had length only around 90 cm (35 in).^[3] Potentially the last record of Saurodon is from the late Maastrichtian of the Muwaqqar Chalk-Marl Formation of Jordan.^[4]

Species

S. leanus

Saurodon leanus left lateral view of 3D reconstruction in the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center

• Saurodon elongatus Taverne & Bronzi, 1999^[5]
• 'Saurodon' intermedius Newton, 1878^[6]
• Saurodon leanus Hays, 1830

Sources

• Fishes of the World by Joseph S. Nelson