''Sericodon'' 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 ...
of
teleosaurid crocodyliform from the
Late Jurassic
The Late Jurassic is the third epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time from 163.5 ± 1.0 to 145.0 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata.Owen 1987.
In European lithostratigraphy, the ...
(
Tithonian
In the geological timescale, the Tithonian is the latest age of the Late Jurassic Epoch and the uppermost stage of the Upper Jurassic Series. It spans the time between 152.1 ± 4 Ma and 145.0 ± 4 Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by t ...
) of Germany and Switzerland. The genus contains a single species, ''S. jugleri''.
''Sericodon'' was placed in 'Clade T' (Aeolodontinae) and was found to be the
sister taxon
In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree.
Definition
The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram:
Taxon A and ...
to ''
Bathysuchus'', another teleosaurid.
Taxonomy
''Sericodon'' was named for teeth from Late Jurassic deposits in Hanover, Germany, and Solothurn, Switzerland (
Reuchenette Formation
The Reuchenette Formation is a Jurassic geologic formation in Switzerland. It is Kimmeridgian in age and predominantly consists of well stratified limestone, with lithology variable both laterally and stratigraphically including wackestones, pa ...
) by
Hermann von Meyer in 1845.
[Meyer, H, (1845), Note on fossil reptiles: Neües Jahrbuch fur Mineralogie, Geologie und Palaontologie, 1845, p. 308-313.] The genus was later synonymized with ''
Steneosaurus'' by Steel (1973), but new work suggests it might be a distinct genus after all.
[Foffa D, Johnson MM, Young MT, Steel L, Brusatte SL. 2019. Revision of the Late Jurassic deep-water teleosauroid crocodylomorph ''Teleosaurus megarhinus'' Hulke, 1871 and evidence of pelagic adaptations in Teleosauroidea. PeerJ 7:e6646 http://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6646]
In 2020 the genus was formally revived.
This simplified cladogram by Johnson ''et al.'' (2020) shows the updated location of ''Sericodon'' within Teleosauridae and Aeolodontinae:
See also
*
List of marine reptiles
References
Thalattosuchians
Prehistoric pseudosuchian genera
Prehistoric marine crocodylomorphs
Late Jurassic crocodylomorphs
Tithonian life
Late Jurassic reptiles of Europe
Fossil taxa described in 1845
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