Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
495 / Mesozoic
Irritator
Irritator challengeri
A long snout, conical teeth and low crest belonged to a spinosaurid that frequently ate fish.
View original image · 1600 × 1067- Time range
- About 113–110 million years ago
- Final stage
- Early Cretaceous
- Geographic range
- Lagoon and estuary · Northeastern Brazil
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Irritator?
Irritator (Irritator challengeri) was an extinct organism known from About 113–110 million years ago, with a range in Lagoon and estuary · Northeastern Brazil.
Life and ecology
It worked lagoon margins and estuaries, rapidly closing narrow jaws on slippery prey.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Irritator disappear?
Its record ends with changes in the Araripe Basin, but those changes do not establish the cause of its disappearance.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Irritator?
A nearly complete skull preserves teeth and braincase, but was altered by fossil dealers; the body follows relatives.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Rewrote an extinction cause that presented environmental or faunal turnover as established; it is now given as context the record does not prove.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS