Dactylosaurus

Name: Dactylosaurus ‭(‬Finger lizard‭)‬.
Phonetic: Dak-til-o-sore-us.
Named By: Georg Gurich‭ ‬-‭ ‬1884.
Synonyms: Dactylosaurus schroederi.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Sauropterygia,‭ ‬Nothosauroidea,‭ ‬Pachypleurosauria,‭ ‬Pachypleurosauridae.
Species: D.‭ ‬gracilis‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Piscivore.
Size: Around‭ ‬20‭ ‬centimetres long.
Known locations: Europe.
Time period: Anisian of the Triassic.
Fossil representation: Partial post cranial remains of the anterior‭ (‬forward portion‭) ‬skeleton.

       Dactylosaurus was one of the smallest known pachypleurosaurs,‭ ‬a group of marine reptiles with close associations to the nothosaurs,‭ ‬though opinions differ‭ ‬on if they should belong within the‭ ‬Nothosauroidea or be separate to them.‭ ‬Dactylosaurus may have been fed upon by other marine reptiles and large fish such as primitive sharks like Hybodus,‭ ‬but it would have been a predator of smaller fish itself.

Further reading
- The pachypleurosaurid Dactylosaurus schroederi (Diapsida: Sauropterygia). - Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 22(11): 1602-1608. - H. -D. Sues &r. R. L. Carroll - 1985.
- Warstwy kościonośne z Dactylosaurus (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) z retu (trias dolny, olenek) Opolszczyzny (Bonebeds with Dactylosaurus (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) from the R�t (Lower Triassic, Olenekian) in the Opole Silesia region (S Poland). - Przegląd Geologiczny 60 (12): 646–649. - M. Kowal-Linka & A. Bodzioch - 2012A.
- New findings of vertebrate remains from the R�t (Lower Triassic, Olenekian) in the vicinity of Gogolin (Opole Silesia, S Poland). [W:] Krasiej�w - inspiracje paleontologiczne / Krasiej�w - paleontological inspirations. E. Jagt-Yazykova, J. Jagt, A. Bodzioch, D. Konietzko-Meier (red.). - Zakład Poligraficzno-Wydawniczy "Plik", Bytom: 70-80. - M. Kowal-Linka & A. Bodzioch - 2012B.
- Genesis of the Lower Triassic bonebeds from Gogolin (S Poland): The impact of microbial mats on trapping of vertebrate remains. - Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 466, 38–58. - M. Kowal-Linka & A. Bodzioch - 2017.

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