Dino card No. 1493 of 2,027

Psephosauriscus

Say it: SEF-oh-SORE-iss-kus

Name means: “lizard fish”1

Ate: MeatSea reptilesMiddle TriassicNot technically a dinosaur

Psephosauriscus was a marine reptile that lived in the Triassic period, about 247 to 237 million years ago. It swam in warm seas and had a flat body like a turtle, but it was not a dinosaur. It used its strong jaws to crush shellfish for food.1 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

247 to 237 million years ago1

Middle Triassic

Fossils found in

Egypt, Israel, and Saudi Arabia1

Food

Meat1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Psephosauriscus belongs to a group of marine reptiles called placodonts, which had flat teeth for crushing shells.1

It lived during the Triassic period, between 247 and 237 million years ago, when the supercontinent Pangaea was breaking apart.1

Fossils of Psephosauriscus have been found in Egypt, Israel, and Saudi Arabia, showing it lived in the Tethys Ocean.1

The name Psephosauriscus means 'lizard fish' in Greek, but it was a reptile, not a fish.1

It was a suspension feeder, meaning it strained tiny food particles from the water like a modern whale.1

AI-made picture of Psephosauriscus — An AI-made picture of how Psephosauriscus 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: Psephosauriscus
Named by: Rieppel 20021
Group: Sea reptiles
Family / clade: Cyamodontoidea1
Classification: Placodontia > Sauropterygia1
Age of the rocks: 247 to 237 million years ()1
Rock formations: Gevanim, Jilh1
Countries: Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia1
Fossil records: 7 in the Paleobiology Database1
Discovery: Psephosauriscus was named by paleontologist Olivier Rieppel in 2002, based on fossils from the Middle East.1
Still debated: Scientists are still unsure about the exact size and body shape of Psephosauriscus because only partial fossils have been found.1

Where the facts come from

Psephosauriscus 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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