''Eoneustes'' (meaning "dawn swimmer") is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

metriorhynchoid 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. Metriorhynchid ...

crocodyliform Crocodyliformes is a clade of crurotarsan archosaurs, the group often traditionally referred to as "crocodilians". They are the first members of Crocodylomorpha to possess many of the features that define later relatives. They are the only ps ...

from

Middle Jurassic The Middle Jurassic is the second epoch of the Jurassic Period. It lasted from about 174.1 to 163.5 million years ago. Fossils of land-dwelling animals, such as dinosaurs, from the Middle Jurassic are relatively rare, but geological formations ...

(late

Bajocian In the geologic timescale The geologic time scale, or geological time scale, (GTS) is a representation of time based on the rock record of Earth. It is a system of chronological dating that uses chronostratigraphy (the process of relatin ...

to early

Bathonian In the geologic timescale the Bathonian is an age and stage of the Middle Jurassic. It lasted from approximately 168.3 Ma to around 166.1 Ma (million years ago). The Bathonian Age succeeds the Bajocian Age and precedes the Callovian Age. St ...

stage) deposits of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. ''Eoneustes'' was a

carnivore A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other ...

that lived in the oceans and spent much, if not all, its life out at sea.

Discovery and species

*''E. bathonicus'':Mercier J. 1933. Contribution l’étude des Métriorhynchidés (crocodiliens). ''Annales de Paléontologie'' 22: 99-119. Western Europe (France) of the Middle Jurassic (early Bathonian). It is known from

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of seve ...

from

Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples or pears, or from apples with pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Nor ...

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

, that lost during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. *''E. gaudryi'':Collot L. 1905. Reptile jurassique (''Teleidosaurus gaudryi'') trouvé à St-Seine-l'Abbaye (Côte-d'Or). ''Memoire Acad. Sci. Arts et Belles-Lettres'' 10: 41-45. Western Europe (France) of the Middle Jurassic (late Bajocian to early Bathonian). It is known from the holotype NHM R.3353, a partial

skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, t ...

from Côte d’Or,

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The ...

and the referred specimen from which housed at Université Claude Bernard Lyon I, F.S.L. 330210, another partial skull from Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France.

References

Middle Jurassic crocodylomorphs Prehistoric pseudosuchian genera Prehistoric marine crocodylomorphs Fossil taxa described in 2010 Middle Jurassic reptiles of Europe Thalattosuchians {{jurassic-reptile-stub