Geosaurinae

Geosaurines
Temporal range: Bathonian–Valanginian
Dakosaurus maximus skull, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Archosauria
Clade: Pseudosuchia
Clade: Crocodylomorpha
Clade: Crocodyliformes
Suborder: Thalattosuchia
Family: Metriorhynchidae
Subfamily: Geosaurinae
Lydekker, 1889
Genera

Geosaurinae is a subfamily of metriorhynchid crocodyliforms from the Middle Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous (Bathonian - Aptian) of Europe, North America and South America.[1][2][3] Named by Richard Lydekker, in 1889, it contains the metriorhynchids Suchodus, Purranisaurus, Neptunidraco, Tyrannoneustes, Torvoneustes, Dakosaurus, Geosaurus and Plesiosuchus. The last four taxa form a tribe within Geosaurinae, the Geosaurini. Geosaurinae is one of two subfamilies of Metriorhynchidae, the other being Metriorhynchinae.[4]

These marine reptiles were widespread during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, their fossilized remains are being frequently found on various places around the world.[5]

Phylogeny[edit]

Life reconstructions showing the maximum body lengths for the four Geosaurini genera present in the late Kimmeridgian-early Tithonian of Western Europe

Geosaurinae is a stem-based taxon defined in 2009 as the most inclusive clade consisting of Geosaurus giganteus, but not Metriorhynchus geoffroyii.[1] Geosaurini was named by Lydekker in 1889, and it is a node-based taxon defined by Andrea Cau and Federico Fanti in 2011 as the least inclusive clade consisting of Geosaurus giganteus, Dakosaurus maximus and Torvoneustes carpenteri. The cladogram below follows the topology from a 2020 analysis by Young et al.[6]

 Geosaurinae 

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Mark T. Young; Marco Brandalise de Andrade (2009). "What is Geosaurus? Redescription of Geosaurus giganteus (Thalattosuchia: Metriorhynchidae) from the Upper Jurassic of Bayern, Germany" (PDF). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 157 (3): 551–585. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00536.x.
  2. ^ Mark T. Young; Stephen L. Brusatte; Marcello Ruta; Marco Brandalise de Andrade (2010). "The evolution of Metriorhynchoidea (Mesoeucrocodylia, Thalattosuchia): an integrated approach using geometrics morphometrics, analysis of disparity and biomechanics". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 158 (4): 801–859. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00571.x.
  3. ^ Chiarenza AA, Foffa D, Young MT, Insacco G, Cau A, Carnevale G, Catanzariti R (2015). "The youngest record of metriorhynchid crocodylomorphs, with implications for the extinction of Thalattosuchia". Cretaceous Research. 56: 608–616. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2015.07.001. hdl:2318/1537833.
  4. ^ Andrea Cau; Federico Fanti (2011). "The oldest known metriorhynchid crocodylian from the Middle Jurassic of North-eastern Italy: Neptunidraco ammoniticus gen. et sp. nov". Gondwana Research. 19 (2): 550–565. Bibcode:2011GondR..19..550C. doi:10.1016/j.gr.2010.07.007.
  5. ^ Daniel Madzia, Sven Sachs, Mark T. Young, Alexander Lukeneder and Petr Skupien (2021). Evidence of two lineages of metriorhynchid crocodylomorphs in the Lower Cretaceous of the Czech Republic. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. doi: https://doi.org/10.4202/app.00801.2020
  6. ^ Young MT, Sachs S, Abel P, Foffa D, Herrera Y, Kitson JJ (2020). "Convergent evolution and possible constraint in the posterodorsal retraction of the external nares in pelagic crocodylomorphs". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 189 (2): 494–520. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa021. hdl:11336/137182.