Bernissartia
Name:
Bernissartia
(from Bernissart).
Phonetic: Burn-iss-are-tee-yah.
Named By: Louis Dollo - 1883.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Crocodylomorpha, Bernissartiidae.
Species: B. fagesii (type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: 60 centimetres long.
Known locations: Belgium, England, Spain,
North America.
Time period: Hauterivian/Barremian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Many specimens,
particularly skulls and post cranial remains from Belgium and Spain.
Although
giant crocodiles
like Sarcosuchus
usually steal the limelight, the
little ones such as Bernissartia can prove just as
interesting. Aside
from being one of the smallest crocodiles in the fossil record,
Bernissartia had two distinct types of teeth. The
front teeth are
sharp and pointed, and are thought to have been for biting into small
slippery prey like fish. The rear teeth however are more rounded and
blunt, more suitable for crushing prey like shellfish and
crustaceans. Some Bernissartia remains have been
found in association
with the remains of the ornithopod dinosaur Iguanodon,
raising the
possibility that they may have scavenged the carcass of a dinosaur that
had drowned (although this is but one explanation).
Bernissartia
is usually thought of as inhabiting coastal environments, possibly on
the coast itself or in lagoons not far from. As such it is possible
that Bernissartia may have behaved like a beach
comber, feeding upon
available animals when found as well as scavenging the remains of
creatures that had washed onto the beach. Higher sea levels during
the cretaceous meant that Europe was more of chain of islands
surrounded by shallow seas rather than the single landmass we know
today, meaning that such coastal environments were amongst the most
extensive of the Cretaceous.
Further reading
- Virtual reconstruction of the skull of Bernissartia fagesii and
current understanding of the neosuchian-eusuchian transition. - Journal
of Systematic Palaeontology. 18 (13). - Jeremy E. Martin, Thierry
Smith, C�line Salaviale, Jer�me Adrien & Massimo Delfino -
2020.
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