andiniensis

As far as I'm aware, there is no postcranial material for Dakosaurus andiniensis, but there is good material for Dakosaurus maximus, which has a much less impressive skull morphology.

My party and those marvellous metriorhynchids Darren Naish 2006

Metriorhynchids generally have 25-40 teeth in the maxilla, but D. andiniensis has just 10 or 11.

My party and those marvellous metriorhynchids Darren Naish 2006

Dakosaurus, the geologically youngest member of the group, was in the news a lot in 2005 as D. andiniensis, an Argentinian species first named in 1985 (though initially misidentified as a species of Metriorhynchus), was described from new specimens (Gasparini et al. 2005).

My party and those marvellous metriorhynchids Darren Naish 2006

These new fossils showed that D. andiniensis was a really fearsome looking beast, with a deep, broad rostrum and a remarkably low number of big, laterally compressed, serrated teeth.

My party and those marvellous metriorhynchids Darren Naish 2006

I now have this vision of a _D. andiniensis_ femeale with its huge head and tiny forelimbs trying to build a nest and moving around just by pushing its body with the hindlimbs.

My party and those marvellous metriorhynchids Darren Naish 2006

Among marine reptiles and possibly marine tetrapods, D. andiniensis would have been unique.

Archive 2006-07-01 Darren Naish 2006

These new fossils showed that D. andiniensis was a really fearsome looking beast, with a deep, broad rostrum and a remarkably low number of big, laterally compressed, serrated teeth.

Archive 2006-07-01 Darren Naish 2006

Metriorhynchids generally have 25-40 teeth in the maxilla, but D. andiniensis has just 10 or 11.

Archive 2006-07-01 Darren Naish 2006

Dakosaurus, the geologically youngest member of the group, was in the news a lot in 2005 as D. andiniensis, an Argentinian species first named in 1985 (though initially misidentified as a species of Metriorhynchus), was described from new specimens (Gasparini et al. 2005).

Archive 2006-07-01 Darren Naish 2006

Among marine reptiles and possibly marine tetrapods, D. andiniensis would have been unique.

My party and those marvellous metriorhynchids Darren Naish 2006