''Torvoneustes'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

metriorhynchid 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 ...

thalattosuchia Thalattosuchia is a clade of mostly 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 member ...

n. It is known from skull and postcranial remains found in the

Kimmeridge Clay The Kimmeridge Clay is a sedimentary rock, sedimentary deposit of fossiliferous marine clay which is of Late Jurassic to lowermost Cretaceous age and occurs in southern and eastern England and in the North Sea. This rock formation (geology), form ...

Formation of

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

and

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, England, the Virgula Marls of

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and also from

Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...

, Mexico . The

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

skull of the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

was initially assigned to the species ''

Metriorhynchus ''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 ...

superciliosus''. Postcranial remains were later discovered from the same quarry as the skull, and then these specimens were recognised as belonging to a new species of ''

Dakosaurus ''Dakosaurus'' is an extinct genus of crocodylomorph within the family Metriorhynchidae that lived during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. It was large, with teeth that were serrated and compressed lateromedially (flattened from side to s ...

'', as ''D. carpenteri''. The species was named to honour Simon Carpenter, an amateur geologist from

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills and on the River Frome, south of Bath. The population of the parish was 28,559 in 2021. Frome was one of the largest tow ...

in Somerset, who discovered the fossils. ''Dakosaurus carpenteri'' was later reassigned to the genus ''

Geosaurus ''Geosaurus'' is an extinct genus of marine crocodyliform within the family Metriorhynchidae, that lived during the Late Jurassic and the Early Cretaceous. ''Geosaurus'' was a carnivore that spent much, if not all, its life out at sea. No ''Geosa ...

'' in 2008. Two years later, it was assigned to its own genus, ''Torvoneustes''. When ''T. carpenteri'' was considered a species of ''Dakosaurus'', its relatively long snout and smaller, more numerous teeth were thought to be features retained from more basal metriorhynchids. Because of this, the species was seen as a transitional form between long-snouted,

piscivorous A piscivore () is a carnivorous animal that primarily eats fish. Fish were the diet of early tetrapod evolution (via water-bound amphibians during the Devonian period); insectivory came next; then in time, the more terrestrially adapted rept ...

metriorhynchids and

hypercarnivorous A hypercarnivore is an animal that has a diet that is more than 70% meat, either via active predation or by scavenging. The remaining non-meat diet may consist of non-animal foods such as fungi, fruits or other plant material. Some extant example ...

, short-snouted species of ''Dakosaurus''. ''T. coryphaeus'' reached in length, while ''T. carpenteri'' reached in length; some specimens indicate an even larger body size. ''T. jurensis'' was estimated to have reached a length of . While ''Dakosaurus'' and ''Geosaurus'' have ziphodont dentition with teeth that are laterally compressed, ''Torvoneustes'' is unique in having a false-ziphodont dentition. The common ancestor of ''Dakosaurus'' and ''Geosaurus'' may also have had a ziphodont dentition, and as ''Torvoneustes'' is also a descendant of this common ancestor, it is possible that a ziphodont dentition was secondarily lost in the genus. However, it is also possible that ''Dakosaurus'' and ''Geosaurus'' acquired similar dentitions independently, and that ''Torvoneustes'' is not descended from a ziphodont ancestor. Fossil teeth of a similar form were also found in a stratum from the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

dating to late

Valanginian In the geologic timescale, the Valanginian is an age or stage of the Early or Lower Cretaceous. It spans between 137.05 ± 0.2 Ma and 132.6 ± 0.2 Ma (million years ago). The Valanginian Stage succeeds the Berriasian Stage of the Lower Cretac ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7827469 Prehistoric pseudosuchian genera Prehistoric marine crocodylomorphs Kimmeridgian life Late Jurassic crocodylomorphs of Europe Jurassic England Fossils of England Late Jurassic crocodylomorphs of North America Jurassic Mexico Fossils of Mexico Fossil taxa described in 2008 Fossil taxa described in 2013