Mikadocephalus
Mikadocephalus was a big, fish-shaped marine reptile that swam in warm seas during the Triassic Period. It was not a dinosaur, but a kind of ichthyosaur, with a long snout full of teeth for catching fish and squid.14
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Fun facts
Mikadocephalus is known from a skull that was so crushed and jumbled that it looked like a game of pick-up sticks, which is how it got its name.1
It lived about 247 to 237 million years ago, during the Middle Triassic, making it one of the earliest big ichthyosaurs.4
Its fossils were found in the Besano Formation, which was once a warm, shallow lagoon with poor oxygen at the bottom.1
Scientists think Mikadocephalus might actually be the same animal as another ichthyosaur called Besanosaurus, because they look very similar.1
The species name gracilirostris means 'slender snout', because its jaws were long and thin.1
Most asked questions about Mikadocephalus
?How big was Mikadocephalus?
About 8 metres (26 feet) long, based on the largest known specimen of Besanosaurus, which scientists think is the same animal.2
?What did Mikadocephalus eat?
It ate small fish and squid, catching them with its long, slender snout and tiny pointed teeth.2
?Is Mikadocephalus a dinosaur?
No, it is not a dinosaur. It is a kind of ichthyosaur, a fish-shaped marine reptile that lived in the sea.1
?Why is it called Mikadocephalus?
Its name means 'Mikado head,' because its skull was so crushed and jumbled that it looked like a game of pick-up sticks.1
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Myth buster
Myth: Some people think Mikadocephalus was a dinosaur because it lived long ago and had a long snout.
Truth: Mikadocephalus was an ichthyosaur, a marine reptile that lived in the sea. Ichthyosaurs are not dinosaurs.1
For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Mikadocephalus
- Named by
- Maisch and Matzke 19974
- Group
- Ichthyosaurs
- Family / clade
- Guanlingsauridae4
- Classification
- Ichthyosauria > Ichthyosauromorpha4
- Age of the rocks
- 247 to 237 million years ()4
- Rock formations
- Monte San Giorgio bituminous shales, Tschermakfjellet4
- Countries
- Switzerland, Svalbard4
- Fossil records
- 2 in the Paleobiology Database4
- Discovery
- The skull was found in Switzerland, in the Besano Formation, and was named by Michael Maisch and Andreas Matzke in 1997.1
- Still debated
- Scientists still debate whether Mikadocephalus is its own species or the same as Besanosaurus, since the skull is so crushed.1
Where the facts come from
- Besanosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
- Besanosaurus (Wikipedia) (Wikipedia)
- Cranial anatomy of Besanosaurus leptorhynchus Dal Sasso & Pinna, 1996 (Reptilia: Ichthyosauria) from the Middle Triassic Besano Formation of Monte San Giorgio, Italy/Switzerland: taxonomic and palaeobiological implications [PeerJ] (peerj.com)
- Mikadocephalus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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