Thalattosuchus and Leedsichthys
Quickly stopping by to report on a new paper describing stomach contents of a thalattosuchian (Jurassic marine crocodile).
The paper in brief describes a specimen of Metriorhynchus superciliosus (aka Thalattosuchus) with preserved stomach contents, which is already rare enough as is. What's even more interesting is that the stomach contents preserve both the gill rakes of the large fish Leedsichthys as well as various mollusc shells. Strange prey for what's a rather small piscivore. Although it was previously suggested that Metriorhynchus/Thalattosuchus attacked living Leedsichthys, this appears to have been based on missinterpreted evidence and given the enormous size difference its way more likely that the fish was simply scavenged, sorta like a kind of Jurassic whalefall. This actually finds support in the mollusc shells, which might have been ingested on accident alongside the fish remains.
Top left: The skeleton of this Thalattosuchus specimen
Top right: The stomach contents in detail (G are gill rakes, S are shells)
Bottom left: Live reconstriction of Thalattosuchus by Gabriel Ugueto
Bottom right: Live reconstruction of Leedsichthys by @knuppitalism-with-ue
The paper itself:
Fossil Studies | Free Full-Text | The Diet of Metriorhynchus (Thalattosuchia, Metriorhynchidae): Additional Discoveries and Paleoecological Implications (mdpi.com)
