Longosuchus

Summary

Longosuchus (meaning "Long's crocodile") is an extinct genus of desmatosuchin aetosaur from the Late Triassic of North America.[1][2] Reported fossils from Morocco are likely misidentified scutes of a paratypothoracin aetosaur.[3] Longosuchus measured about 3 metres in length.[1]

Longosuchus
Temporal range: Late Triassic
Skeleton
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Archosauria
Clade: Pseudosuchia
Order: Aetosauria
Family: Stagonolepididae
Subfamily: Desmatosuchinae
Genus: Longosuchus
Hunt & Lucas, 1990
Species
  • L. meadei (Sawin, 1947) (type)

Taxonomy edit

 
Restoration

Longosuchus was originally named as a species of Typothorax, T. meadei, in 1947 on the basis of skeletal remains from the Otis Chalk quarries in Howard County, western Texas. Hunt and Lucas (1990) recognized T. meadei as generically distinct from the type species of Typothorax and renamed it Longosuchus in honor of Robert Long.[4][5]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Sues, Hans-Dieter; Fraser, Nicholas C. (2010). Triassic Life on Land: The Great Transition. ISBN 978-0-231-13522-1.
  2. ^ Lucas, Spencer (1998). "The aetosaur Longosuchus from the Triassic of Morocco and its biochronological significance". Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Série IIA. 326 (8): 589–594. Bibcode:1998CRASE.326..589L. doi:10.1016/S1251-8050(98)80211-5.
  3. ^ Parker, William G.; Martz, Jeffrey W. (2010-07-14). "Using positional homology in aetosaur (Archosauria: Pseudosuchia) osteoderms to evaluate the taxonomic status of Lucasuchus hunti". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 30 (4): 1100–1108. Bibcode:2010JVPal..30.1100P. doi:10.1080/02724634.2010.483536. ISSN 0272-4634. S2CID 83713904.
  4. ^ H. J. Sawin. 1947. The pseudosuchian reptile Typothorax meadei. Journal of Paleontology 21:201-238.
  5. ^ A. P. Hunt and S. G. Lucas. 1990. Re-evaluation of "Typothorax" meadei, a Late Triassic aetosaur from the United States. Paläontologische Zeitschrift 64:317-328.