Surf Wiki
Save to docs
general/crocodyliformes

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Lusitanisuchus

Extinct genus of crocodyliform

Extinct genus of crocodyliform

  • Lisboasaurus mitracostatus Seiffert, 1970 (type)

Lusitanisuchus is an extinct genus of mesoeucrocodylian crocodyliform. Mostly fragmentary fossils have been found from several localities in Portugal and are Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous in age.

The only species, Lusitanisuchus mitracostatus, was named in 2004 after having previously been described as a species of the genus Lisboasaurus in 1970. L. mitracostatus was originally thought to have been an anguimorph lizard upon its naming in 1970 based on fragmentary jaw remains and isolated teeth found from the Kimmeridgean-age Guimarota Formation in Leiria . The species was later regarded as a nomen dubium by several authors of papers regarding Lisboasaurus due to the incomplete nature of the known remains associated with the species. However, a later reexamination of fossils from the Guimarota Formation had found skull material that included a dentary similar to the one seen in the holotype of L. mitracostatus. These remains, being more complete than those of the holotype, showed that L. mitracostatus was really a crocodylomorph rather than an anguimorph. Furthermore, it was shown to be a genus distinct from Lisboasaurus, which had by then been shown to be a crocodylomorph as well.

Several teeth referable to Lusitanisuchus were also found from Porto Dinheiro, Lourinhã in strata deposited during the Berriasian stage of the Early Cretaceous, extending the temporal range of this taxon by about 15 Ma.

Paleobiology

Lusitanisuchus coexisted with many dinosaurs from the Lusitanian Basin during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. Dinosaur fossils found from the Guimarota Formation include tyrannosauroids such as Aviatyrannis and Stokesosaurus, the ornithopod Phyllodon, and the small coelurosaur Compsognathus. The Porto Dinheiro locality included dinosaurs such as the diplodocid Dinheirosaurus as well as early mammals such as Portopinheirodon.

References

References

  1. Schwarz, D. and Fechner, R. (2004). ''Lusitanisuchus'', a new generic name for ''Lisboasaurus mitracostatus'' (Crocodylomorpha: Mesoeucrocodylia), with a description of new remains from the Upper Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) and Lower Cretaceous (Berriasian) of Portugal. ''Canadian Journal of Earth Science'' '''41'''(10):1259–1271.
  2. Seiffert, J. (1970). "Oberjurassische Lacertilier aus der Kohlengrube Guimarota bei Leiria (Mittel Portugal)". Unpublished Inaugural-Dissertation, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany.
  3. Seiffert, J. (1973). "Upper Jurassic Lizards from Central Portugal". ''Memória dos Servicos Géologicos de Portugal (N.S.)'' '''22''': 7–88.
  4. J. Seiffert. (1975.) Upper Jurassic lizards from central Portugal. Contribuição para o conhecimento da Fauna do Kimerridgiano da Mina de Lignito Guimarota (Leiria, Portugal). Serviços Geológicos de Portugal, Memória (Nova Série) 22:7-85
  5. Milner, A. R. and Evans, S. E. (1991). The Upper Jurassic diapsid ''Lisboasaurus estesi'' — a maniraptoran theropod. ''Palaeontology'' '''34''':503–513.
  6. Buscalioni, A. D., Ortega, F., Pérez-Moreno, B. P., and Evans, S. E. (1996). The Upper Jurassic maniraptoran theropod ''Lisboasaurus estesi'' (Guimarota, Portugal) reinterpreted as a crocodylomorph. ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' '''16'''(2):358–362.
  7. Weishampel, D. B., Barret, P. M., Coria, R. A., Loeuff, J. L., Xing, X., Xijin, Z., Sahni, A., Gomani, E. M. P. and Noto, C. R. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution". ''In:'' Weishampel, D, B., Dodson, P. and Osmólska, H., eds., ''The Dinosauria'', 2nd ed. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 545–549.
  8. Bonaparte, J. F. and Mateus, O (1999). A new diplodocid, ''Dinheirosaurus lourinhanensis gen. et sp. nov.'', from the Late Jurassic beds of Portugal. ''Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales'' '''5''':13–29.
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

crocodyliformes early-cretaceous-crocodylomorphs-of-europe late-jurassic-crocodylomorphs-of-europe kimmeridgian-first-appearances early-cretaceous-genus-extinctions early-cretaceous-reptiles-of-europe prehistoric-pseudosuchian-genera
Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Lusitanisuchus — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report