Acrodus

Acrodus is an extinct genus of hybodont spanning from the Early Triassic to the Late Jurassic. It was durophagous, with blunt, broad teeth designed for crushing and grinding. Some Middle Triassic species have been suggested to have grown to lengths of 1.8–2.5 metres (5.9–8.2 ft). Species are known from both marine and freshwater environments, with all Middle and Late Jurassic species only known from freshwater.

Acrodus

Neil Pezzoni · CC BY 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
AcrodontidaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Chondrichthyes
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Chondrichthyes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Chondrichthyes

Time the record covers

At least 234 million years on record.

The record covers at least 293.52 Mya to 59.24 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 298.9 Mya to 56 Mya.

Carboniferous — about 0 of 170 occurrencesPermian — about 17 of 170 occurrencesPermianEarly Triassic — about 26 of 170 occurrencesMiddle Triassic — about 61 of 170 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 32 of 170 occurrencesLate TriassicEarly Jurassic — about 16 of 170 occurrencesEarly JurassicMiddle Jurassic — about 4 of 170 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 3 of 170 occurrencesEarly Cretaceous — about 6 of 170 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 4 of 170 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 1 of 170 occurrencesEocene — about 0 of 170 occurrences304–295 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences295–287 Mya — about 2 occurrences287–278 Mya — about 5 occurrences278–270 Mya — about 4 occurrences270–262 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences262–253 Mya — about 5 occurrences253–245 Mya — about 36 occurrences245–236 Mya — about 52 occurrences236–228 Mya — about 9 occurrences228–220 Mya — about 4 occurrences220–211 Mya — about 3 occurrences211–203 Mya — about 11 occurrences203–194 Mya — about 16 occurrences194–186 Mya — about 4 occurrences186–177 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences177–169 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences169–161 Mya — about 3 occurrences161–152 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences152–144 Mya — about 2 occurrences144–135 Mya — about 1 occurrence135–127 Mya — about 1 occurrence127–119 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences119–110 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences110–102 Mya — about 2 occurrences102–93 Mya — about 3 occurrences93–85 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences85–76 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences76–68 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences60–51 Mya — about 1 occurrence293.52 Mya59.24 Mya304 Mya51 Mya

170 occurrences of Acrodus on record, most of them in the Middle Triassic. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

170 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

54 formations

Besano — 45.91°N, 8.95°EVikinghøgda — 78.31°N, 16.60°EChinle — 35.05°N, 109.84°WChinle — 34.86°N, 109.78°WChinle — 34.44°N, 109.46°WChinle — 34.68°N, 109.58°WZhitkov — 42.93°N, 132.43°EKeuper — 51.99°N, 2.31°WKeuper — 52.31°N, 1.68°WKeuper — 52.04°N, 2.19°WFavret — 40.06°N, 117.56°WSticky Keep — 78.34°N, 16.30°ESticky Keep — 78.31°N, 16.63°EMuschelkalk — 51.20°N, 9.93°EMuschelkalk — 50.01°N, 11.62°EMuschelkalk — 51.25°N, 10.66°EBaldonnel — 56.10°N, 122.87°WBaldonnel — 56.10°N, 122.72°WLealt Shale — 56.92°N, 6.15°WLealt Shale — 56.91°N, 6.11°WTalpa — 33.70°N, 99.10°WVardebukta — 77.03°N, 16.21°EHosselkus — 40.78°N, 122.22°WHambast — 31.56°N, 52.44°EExter — 48.56°N, 9.07°EExter — 48.55°N, 9.07°EGrès d'Orval — 49.60°N, 5.56°ELudington — 56.67°N, 123.27°WLudington — 56.80°N, 123.45°WKalapani — 30.39°N, 80.16°EKössener Schichten — 48.13°N, 16.24°EJiesia — 55.06°N, 24.37°EGarber Sandstone — 34.53°N, 98.89°WNaujoji Akmenė — 56.58°N, 22.36°EPhu Kradung — 16.65°N, 102.25°EPhu Kradung — 16.98°N, 102.55°EGuanling — 24.58°N, 103.81°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Acrodus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 30 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 62 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Acrodus and its relatives

Middle Triassic

Where Acrodus and its relatives were recorded in the Middle Triassic.

Found in the same rock

976 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 139 sites for Acrodus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

75 references

Each of the 170 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 63 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Acrodus

Credit
Neil Pezzoni
Licence
CC BY 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itAcrodontidae through timeFormations of the Middle TriassicThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Agassiz 1834