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Thalattosuchia
Thalattosuchia is a clade of marine crocodylomorphs from the Early Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous that had a cosmopolitan distribution. They are colloquially referred to as marine crocodiles or sea crocodiles, though they are not members of Crocodilia and records from Thailand and China suggest that some members lived in freshwater. The clade contains two major subgroupings, the Teleosauroidea and Metriorhynchoidea. Teleosauroids are not greatly specialised for oceanic life, with back osteoderms similar to other crocodyliformes. Within Metriorhynchoidea, the Metriorhynchidae displayed extreme adaptions for life in the open ocean, including the transformation of limbs into flippers, the development of a tail fluke, and smooth, scaleless skin. Discovery and naming The term Thalattosuchia was coined by Fraas in 1901.Fraas E. 1901. Die Meerkrokodile (Thalattosuchia n. g.) eine neue Sauriergruppe der Juraformation. ''Jahreshefte des Vereins für vaterländische Naturkunde, Wür ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metriorhynchidae
Metriorhynchidae is an extinct family of specialized, aquatic metriorhynchoid crocodyliforms from the Middle Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous period (Bajocian to early Aptian) of Europe, North America and South America. The name Metriorhynchidae was coined by the Austrian zoologist Leopold Fitzinger in 1843.Fitzinger LJFJ. 1843. ''Systema Reptilium''. Wien: Braumüller et Seidel, 106 pp. The group contains two subfamilies, the Metriorhynchinae and the Geosaurinae. They represent the most marine adapted of all archosaurs. Description Metriorhynchids are fully aquatic crocodyliforms. Their forelimbs were small and paddle-like, and unlike living crocodylians, they lost their osteoderms ("armour scutes"). Their body shape maximised hydrodynamy (swimming efficiency), as they did have a shark-like tail fluke. Like ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs, metriorhynchids developed smooth, scaleless skin. Metriorhynchids were the only group of archosaurs to become fully adapted to the mar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cricosaurus
''Cricosaurus'' is an extinct genus of marine crocodyliforms of the Late Jurassic. belonging to the family Metriorhynchidae. The genus was established by Johann Andreas Wagner in 1858 for three skulls from the Tithonian (Late Jurassic) of Germany. The name ''Cricosaurus'' means "Ring lizard", and is derived from the Greek '- ("ring") and -' ("lizard"). It was a relatively small reptile, with ''C. suevicus'' and ''C. araucanensis'' measuring and in total body length, respectively. Discovery ''Cricosaurus'' was first named by Wagner in 1858,Wagner A. 1858. Zur Kenntniss der Saurier aus den lithographischen Schiefern. ''Abhandlungen der Mathemat.-Physikalischen Classe der Königlich Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften'' 8: 415-528. as a reclassification of a specimen he had previously described in 1852 ("Stenosaurus" ''elegans'', "Stenosaurus" being a misspelling of '' Steneosaurus'').Wagner A. 1852. Neu-aufgefundene Saurier-Überreste aus dem lithographischen Schiefern u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Machimosaurus
''Machimosaurus'' is an extinct genus of machimosaurid crocodyliform from the Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian and Tithonian) and Early Cretaceous. The type species, ''Machimosaurus hugii'', was found in Switzerland. Other fossils have been found in England, France, Germany, Portugal, Switzerland and Tunisia.Steel R. 1973. ''Crocodylia. Handbuch der Paläoherpetologie, Teil 16''. Stuttgart: Gustav Fischer Verlag,116 pp. ''Machimosaurus rex'' is the largest named teleosauroid and thalattosuchian, with an estimated length of up to (skull length ). ''Machimosaurus'' is the largest known crocodyliform of the Jurassic. Discovery and species Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer in 1837 named isolated conical, blunt teeth with numerous longitudinal lines from Switzerland, ''Madrimosaurus hugii''. However, in 1838, realising he had misspelled the name, he emended ''Madrimosaurus'' to ''Machimosaurus'', from the Greek ''machimoi'', ancient Egyptian troops deployed during the Ptolemaic Dyn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pelagosaurus
''Pelagosaurus'' (meaning "lizard of the open sea") is an extinct genus of thalattosuchian crocodyliform that lived during the Toarcian stage of the Lower Jurassic, around 183 Ma to 176 Ma (million years ago), in shallow epicontinental seas that covered much of what is now Western Europe. The systematic taxonomy of ''Pelagosaurus'' has been fiercely disputed over the years, and was assigned to Thalattosuchia after its systematics within Teleosauridae were disputed. ''Pelagosaurus'' measured long and weighed . Discovery ''Pelagosaurus'' was originally described from a specimen from Normandy, but the holotype for ''P. typus'' was discovered north of the town of Ilminster in Somerset, England. Most ''Pelagosaurus'' remains have been found in the Ilminster area, but numerous other remains, predominantly skulls and articulated skeletons, have been found around Western Europe in locations such as France, Germany, and Switzerland. Specimens from the Somerset region come primarily ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metriorhynchus Brevirostris
''Metriorhynchus'' is an extinct genus of marine crocodyliform that lived in the oceans during the Late Jurassic. The type species, ''M. brevirostris'' was named in 1829 as a species of '' Steneosaurus'' before being named as a separate genus by the German palaeontologist Christian von Meyer in 1832. The name ''Metriorhynchus'' means "Moderate snout", and is derived from the Greek ''Metrio''- ("moderate") and -''rhynchos'' ("snout"). Discovery and species Fossil specimens referrable to ''Metriorhynchus'' are known from Kimmeridgian (Late Jurassic) deposits of France. Valid species Only one valid species is recognized today, the type species ''M. geoffroyii'' (now called ''M. brevirostris''). ''"Metriorhynchus" hastifer'' and ''"M." palpebrosus'' are generically distinct from the ''Metriorhynchus'' type species, with ''hastifer'' being recovered as a geosaurine. Species in this genus were traditionally classed into two skull groups: longirostrine (long, narrow jaws) and brevir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metriorhynchoidea
Metriorhynchoidea is an extinct superfamily of thalattosuchian crocodyliforms from the Early Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous (Toarcian - Valanginian, possibly as late as early Aptian) of Europe, North America and South America. Metriorhynchids are fully aquatic crocodyliforms. Named by Fitzinger, in 1843, it contains the basal taxa like '' Teleidosaurus'', '' Zoneait'' and '' Eoneustes'' and the family Metriorhynchidae. An unnamed taxon is known from Chile. Phylogeny Metriorhynchoidea is a stem-based taxon defined in 2009 as the most inclusive clade consisting of '' Metriorhynchus geoffroyii'', but not '' Teleosaurus cadomensis''. The cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to ... below follows the topology from a 2011 analysis by Andrea Cau and Federico Fanti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Machimosauridae
Machimosauridae is an extinct family of teleosauroid thalattosuchian crocodyliforms. Text was copied from this source, which is available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License The family was first identified in 2016, when fossils of teleosauroid thalattosuchians, including an indeterminate close relative of '' Lemmysuchus'' and ''Machimosaurus'', were described from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) of Morocco. The family was largely expanded in 2020 when the systematics of Teleosauroidea were re-reviewed. Members of this family generally were larger than the teleosaurids. Classification Machimosauridae is a diverse group of teleosauroids, phylogenetically defined as "the largest clade within Teleosauroidea containing '' Machimosaurus hugii'', but not ''Plagiophthalmosuchus gracilirostris'' and '' Teleosaurus cadomensis''." The members of the Machimosauridae share several unique characters among teleosauroids, which are: * dorsally oriented external ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crocodylomorph
Crocodylomorpha is a group of pseudosuchian archosaurs that includes the crocodilians and their extinct relatives. They were the only members of Pseudosuchia to survive the end-Triassic extinction. During Mesozoic and early Cenozoic times, crocodylomorphs were far more diverse than they are now. Triassic forms were small, lightly built, active terrestrial animals. The earliest and most primitive crocodylomorphs are represented by " sphenosuchians", a paraphyletic assemblage containing small-bodied forms with elongated limbs that walked upright, which represents the ancestral morphology of Crocodylomorpha. These forms persisted until the end of the Jurassic. During the Jurassic, Crocodylomorphs morphologically diversified into numerous niches, including into the aquatic and marine realms. Evolutionary history When their extinct species and stem group are examined, the crocodylian lineage (clade Pseudosuchia, formerly Crurotarsi) proves to have been a very diverse and adaptive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jurassic Crocodylomorphs
The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic Era and is named after the Jura Mountains, where limestone strata from the period were first identified. The start of the Jurassic was marked by the major Triassic–Jurassic extinction event, associated with the eruption of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province. The beginning of the Toarcian Stage started around 183 million years ago and is marked by an extinction event associated with widespread oceanic anoxia, ocean acidification, and elevated temperatures likely caused by the eruption of the Karoo-Ferrar large igneous provinces. The end of the Jurassic, however, has no clear boundary with the Cretaceous and is the only boundary between geological periods to remain formally undefined. By the beginning of the Jurassic, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teleosauridae
Teleosauridae is a family of extinct typically marine crocodylomorphs similar to the modern gharial that lived during the Jurassic period. Teleosaurids were thalattosuchians closely related to the fully aquatic metriorhynchoids, but were less adapted to an open-ocean, pelagic lifestyle. The family was originally coined to include all the semi-aquatic (i.e. non-metriorhynchoid) thalattosuchians and was equivalent to the modern superfamily Teleosauroidea. However, as teleosauroid relationships and diversity was better studied in the 21st century, the division of teleosauroids into two distinct evolutionary lineages led to the establishment of Teleosauridae as a more restrictive family within the group, together with its sister family Machimosauridae. Amongst teleosauroids, teleosaurids were generally smaller and less common than machimosaurids, suggesting the two families occupied different niches, similar to modern species of crocodilians. However, teleosaurids were more divers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teleosauroidea
Teleosauroidea is an extinct superfamily of thalattosuchian crocodyliforms living from the Early Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous (geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous ( chronostratigraphic name), is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 145 Ma to 100.5 Ma. Geology Pr .... References Thalattosuchians Animal superfamilies {{Paleo-archosaur-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Platysuchus
''Platysuchus'' ("flat crocodile") is an extinct genus of teleosaurid crocodyliform from the Early Jurassic (Toarcian) of southern Germany and Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small land .... Taxonomy ''Platysuchus'' was originally described as a member of the genus '' Mystriosaurus'', as ''M. multiscrobiculatus''. However, Westphal (1961) found ''M. multiscrobiculatus'' generically distinct from ''Mystriosaurus'' and renamed it ''Platysuchus''. Distribution ''Platysuchus'' has been found in Toarcian age marine deposits in southern Germany and Luxembourg.Michela M. Johnson, Mark T. Young, Stephen L. Brusatte, Ben Thuy & Robert Weis (2018): A catalogue of teleosauroids (Crocodylomorpha: Thalattosuchia) from the Toarcian and Bajocian (Jurassic) of southern Luxembo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
