Dino card No. 0445 of 2,027

Contectopalatus

Say it: kon-TEK-toh-PAL-ah-tus

Name means: “covered plate”1

Ate: MeatIchthyosaursMiddle TriassicNot technically a dinosaur

Contectopalatus was a marine reptile that lived in the ocean during the Triassic Period. It had a very tall crest on its head made of bone, which helped it bite hard. It was one of the biggest ichthyosaurs of its time.2

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

Lived

247 to 237 million years ago4

Middle Triassic

Fossils found in

Monte San Giorgio, Switzerland4

Food

Meat4

Length

5 m2

estimate

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

as long as 3 bicycles in a rowas long as 28 bananas end to end

How big was Contectopalatus compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

Contectopalatus had a very high crest on its skull made from the nasal, frontal and parietal bones. This crest grew taller as the animal got older.2

Its jaw muscles were arranged in a unique way. They stretched all the way up to the nostril opening on top of the skull.2

This special muscle arrangement gave Contectopalatus a very strong bite. It was one of the top predators in the Triassic seas.2

Contectopalatus was about 5 metres long. That makes it the largest known mixosaurid ichthyosaur.2

Mixosaurids like Contectopalatus were once thought to be small and simple. But they were actually highly specialized and diverse.2

AI-made picture of Contectopalatus — An AI-made picture of how Contectopalatus 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.

you asked

Most asked questions about Contectopalatus

?How big was Contectopalatus?

It was about 5 metres (16 feet) long, making it the largest known mixosaurid ichthyosaur.2 3

?What did Contectopalatus eat?

It was a top predator that ate fish and other marine animals. Its strong bite and special teeth helped it catch and eat its prey.2

?Is Contectopalatus a dinosaur?

No, it was an ichthyosaur, a marine reptile that lived in the ocean. It is not a dinosaur.2

Ask Rex about Contectopalatus

Rex only answers questions about this page. 3 questions a day.

Rex is an AI and can make mistakes. He runs on servers in the EU and questions are never saved. Never type your name or other personal things.

For dino experts

Scientific name: Contectopalatus
Named by: Maisch and Matzke 19984
Group: Ichthyosaurs
Family / clade: Mixosauridae4
Classification: Ichthyosauria > Ichthyosauromorpha4
Age of the rocks: 247 to 237 million years ()4
Rock formations: Monte San Giorgio bituminous shales4
Countries: Switzerland4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: The first fossils were described by Quenstedt in 1851 to 52 as Ichthyosaurus atavus. In 1998, Maisch and Matzke renamed it Contectopalatus after studying its skull.1
Still debated: Scientists are still debating exactly how the tall crest and jaw muscles worked together to give Contectopalatus such a powerful bite.2

Where the facts come from

Observations on Triassic ichthyosaurs. Part III: A crested predatory mixosaurid from the Middle Triassic of the Germanic Basin - Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen Band 209 Heft 1, Schweizerbart science publishers (schweizerbart.de)
The mixosaurid ichthyosaur Contectopalatus from the Middle Triassic of the German Basin (scup.com)
Phalarodon (Wikipedia) (Wikipedia)
Contectopalatus 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.

Rex is hungry! Dino Wiki is a dad's project for his dino-loving son, free with no ads. Grown-ups can feed Rex a snack to help keep it online.Feed Rex