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Catutosaurus

Say it: ka-TOO-toh-SORE-us

Name means: “Catuto lizard”2

Ate: MeatIchthyosaursLate Jurassic to Early CretaceousNot technically a dinosaur

Catutosaurus was a fast-swimming marine reptile that lived in the Jurassic seas. It looked a bit like a dolphin but was actually an ichthyosaur, not a dinosaur. It had a long snout and strong flippers for chasing fish.1

Fun fact: this sea reptile swam while dinosaurs walked on land. Everyone calls them dinos, but they were a different branch of reptiles.

Lived

149 to 143 million years ago2

Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

El Ministerio Quarry, Los Catutos, Neuquén Province, Argentina2

Food

Meat2 1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Catutosaurus lived about 149 to 143 million years ago during the Late Jurassic period.2

Its fossils were found in the Vaca Muerta formation in Argentina, which is famous for its well-preserved marine reptiles.2

Catutosaurus had a mix of features: a skull like some ophthalmosaurids and a forefin like others, showing that these traits evolved separately.1

Its forefin had tightly packed polygonal bones and a broad connection between the upper arm and forearm bones.1

The name Catutosaurus comes from the Los Catutos area in Argentina where it was discovered.2

Catutosaurus is part of a group called ophthalmosaurids, which were the last ichthyosaurs to survive, living until about 94 million years ago.1

AI-made picture of Catutosaurus — An AI-made picture of how Catutosaurus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Catutosaurus
Named by: Fernández et al. 20212
Group: Ichthyosaurs
Family / clade: Ophthalmosauridae2
Classification: Ichthyosauria > Ichthyosauromorpha2
Age of the rocks: 149 to 143 million years (Tithonian)2
Rock formations: Vaca Muerta2
Countries: Argentina2
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database2
Discovery: Catutosaurus was named in 2021 by Marta S. Fernández, Lisandro Campos, Erin E. Maxwell, and Alberto C. Garrido. The fossils were found in the Los Catutos area of Patagonia, Argentina.2 1
Still debated: Scientists are still debating exactly how Catutosaurus is related to other ophthalmosaurids. Its mix of features makes its place on the family tree unclear.1

Where the facts come from

Catutosaurus gaspariniae, gen. et sp. nov. (Ichthyosauria, Thunnosauria) of the Upper Jurassic of Patagonia and the Evolution of the Ophthalmosaurids (complete.bioone.org)
Catutosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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