Dorateuthis
| Dorateuthis Temporal range: Late Santonian | |
|---|---|
| Holotype of Dorateuthis syriaca, photographed under μXRF overlay (top) and as in life (bottom) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Cephalopoda |
| Family: | †Plesioteuthididae |
| Genus: | †Dorateuthis Woodward, 1883 |
| Species: | †D. syriaca |
| Binomial name | |
| †Dorateuthis syriaca Woodward, 1883 | |
Dorateuthis is a genus of cephalopod from the Upper Santonian shale of Late Cretaceous Lebanon. Though traditionally regarded as a plesioteuthidid squid, it may instead be a member of the suborder Prototeuthina, the earliest-diverging branch of Octopoda. Dorateuthis was small, with a mantle length of 5–40 cm (2.0–15.7 in). The contents of its digestive system suggest that it may have fed on small fishes and been an active predator.