Overview
- Paleontologists Martin Ebert and Martina Kölbl-Ebert analyzed 343 Aspidorhynchus fossils from Bavaria’s Solnhofen limestone and reported that 16% are isolated heads with gastrointestinal tracts.
- Gut contents indicate a diet dominated by small juvenile teleosts, with occasional larger prey swallowed whole, including a 16 cm Allothrissops inside a 56 cm Aspidorhynchus.
- Based on body form and stomach contents, the authors conclude Aspidorhynchus was a pursuit predator that likely targeted schooling fish using an elongate, sword-like upper jaw.
- The isolated heads are interpreted as remains left by larger grabber predators that seized tails and tore bodies off with violent headshakes, leaving skulls with attached intestines.
- Suspected decapitators include 2–4 m ichthyosaurs, marine crocodiles, and larger pliosaurs, with an anatomical weakness at the skull–body junction likely making head removal easier.