Genus
Valid Extinct

Baptanodon

Seeley 1874

Baptanodon is an ichthyosaur of the Late Jurassic period, named for its supposed lack of teeth. It had a graceful 3.5 m (11 ft) long dolphin-shaped body, and its jaws were well adapted for catching squid. Major fossil finds of this genus have been recorded in North America. The type species, Sauranodon natans, was originally included under Sauranodon in 1879, but this name was preoccupied.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
2
Group
Ichtyosaures
Carnivore nektonic Marine
Baptanodon
click to enlarge
A figure from Notes on Osteology of Baptanodon. With a Description of a New Species. © Some artist working for C. W. Gilmore · Public domain · Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Ichthyosauria Unranked clade
›
Baracromia Unranked clade
›
Ophthalmosauridae Family
›
Baptanodon Genus
Fossil sites 2 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇺🇸 United States
2
Geological formations
Sundance
2
Temporal distribution
Oxfordian (161.5–154.8 Ma)
1
Callovian (165.3–161.5 Ma)
1
Species (1)
Baptanodon discus 168 Ma
Synonyms (1)
Sauranodon replaced by Baptanodon
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
H. G. Seeley. 1874. On the pectoral arch and fore limb of Ophthalmosaurs, a new ichthyosaurian genus from the Oxford Clay. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 30:696-707 DOI ↗
Bibliography (2)
C. W. Gilmore. 1905. Osteology of Baptanodon (Marsh). Memoirs of the Carnegie Museum 2(2):77-129 DOI ↗
W. C. Knight. 1900. Some new Jurassic vertebrates. American Journal of Science, series 4 10:115-119 DOI ↗