Tyrannoneustes

History and description

The genus was rediscovered after a century of storage in a museum basement after being unearthed by fossil hunter Alfred Nicholson Leeds between the years of 1907 and 1909. Its lower jaw measured about 26 inches long and its teeth were blade-like, likely built to attack prey as large or larger than itself, similar to the Late Jurassic Dakosaurus, Torvoneustes, and Plesiosuchus.

Classification

Tyrannoneustes is a member of the metriorhynchid subfamily called Geosaurinae and the derived tribe Geosaurini. Members were generally large marine predators, adapted to open-ocean life with streamlined bodies, powerful tails, and long, robust jaws lined with sharp teeth.

The cladogram below is from an analysis by Léa Girard and colleagues in their description of Torvoneustes jurensis.

References

References

1. Waskow, K., Grzegorczyk, D. & Sander, P.M. The first record of Tyrannoneustes (Thalattosuchia: Metriorhynchidae): a complete skull from the Callovian (late Middle Jurassic) of Germany. PalZ 92, 457–480 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-017-0395-z
2. (2013). "The oldest known metriorhynchid super-predator: A new genus and species from the Middle Jurassic of England, with implications for serration and mandibular evolution in predacious clades". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.
3. Charles Choi. (2013-01-30). "Ancient 'super-croc' fossil discovered in museum drawer: And they didn't call enormous Tyrannoneustes 'blood-biting tyrant swimmer' for nothing".
4. (2014). "The cranial osteology of ''Tyrannoneustes lythrodectikos'' (Crocodylomorpha: Metriorhynchidae) from the Middle Jurassic of Europe". PeerJ.
5. (2023). "Description and phylogenetic relationships of a new species of ''Torvoneustes'' (Crocodylomorpha, Thalattosuchia) from the Kimmeridgian of Switzerland". PeerJ.