Kuehneosuchus

Kuehneosuchus is an extinct genus of Late Triassic kuehneosaurid reptile known from the Late Triassic (Norian stage) of southwest England. It was named by P. L. Robinson in 1967 and the type and only species is Kuehneosuchus latissimus. It is known from the holotype NHMUK PV R 6111, a set of associated vertebrae and ribs.[1] It is a derived kuehneosaurid, most closely related to Kuehneosaurus. The genera are very similar and can be distinguished from one another primarily on the length of their "wing" ribs, relatively short and massive in Kuehneosaurus but up to 4 times longer and more gracile in Kuehneosuchus. However, the skull and major postcranial bones are identical in both taxa, as their age and horizon.[2] According to aerodynamic studies Kuehneosuchus, unlike Kuehneosaurus which may be a species of the same genus or represent a different sexual morph, was probably a glider.[3]

Kuehneosuchus
Temporal range: Late Triassic, Norian
Life restoration of Kuehneosuchus (left) and Kuehneosaurus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Family: †Kuehneosauridae
Genus: †Kuehneosuchus
Robinson, 1967
Type species
†Kuehneosuchus latissimus
Robinson, 1967

References
  1. P. L. Robinson (1967). "Triassic vertebrates from upland and lowland". Science and Culture. 33: 169–173.
  2. Susan E. Evans (2009). "An early kuehneosaurid reptile (Reptilia: Diapsida) from the Early Triassic of Poland" (PDF). Paleontologica Polonica. 65: 145–178.
  3. Stein, K., Palmer, C., Gill, P.G., and Benton, M.J. (2008). "The aerodynamics of the British Late Triassic Kuehneosauridae." Palaeontology, 51(4): 967-981. DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-4983.2008.00783.x


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