In Depth
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.
