Theriosuchus

Theriosuchus is an extinct genus of atoposaurid mesoeucrocodylian from Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous of Europe (southern England), Southeast Asia (Thailand) and western North America (Wyoming), with fragmentary records from Middle Jurassic and Early Cretaceous sites in China, Morocco, and Scotland.[1]

Theriosuchus
Temporal range: Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous
Fossil of T. pusillus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Family: †Atoposauridae
Genus: †Theriosuchus
Owen, 1879
Species
  • T. pusillus Owen, 1879 (type)
  • T. grandinaris Lauprasert et al., 2011
  • T. morrisonensis Foster, 2018

Taxonomy
Skull elements of T. pusillus

Three valid species are currently recognized: Theriosuchus pusillus from southern England,[2] T. grandinaris from Thailand,[3] and T. morrisonensis from the Morrison Formation of North America.[4] Theriosuchus was previously assigned to Atoposauridae, but a 2016 cladistic analysis recovered it as a neosuchian more closely related to members of the family Paralligatoridae than to atoposaurids.[1]

Two species previously assigned to this genus, Theriosuchus ibericus[5] and T. symplesiodon,[6] have been reassigned to the new genus Sabresuchus.[1] On the other hand, Theriosuchus guimarotae from Portugal[7] has been reassigned to Knoetschkesuchus.[8]

Paleobiology

Fossils belonging to the genus are abundant at several European sites, namely Dorset, southern England.

References
  1. Tennant Jonathan P., Mannion Philip D., Upchurch Paul (2016). "Evolutionary relationships and systematics of Atoposauridae (Crocodylomorpha: Neosuchia): implications for the rise of Eusuchia". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. Owen, R. (1879). "Monograph on the fossil Reptilia of the Wealden and Purbeck Formations. Supplement IX, Crocodilia (Goniopholis, Brachydectes, Nannosuchus, Theriosuchus, and Nuthetes)". Palaeontographical Society of London Monograph. 33: 1–19. doi:10.1080/02693445.1879.12027958.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  3. Lauprasert Komsorn, Laojumpon Chalida, Saenphala Wanitchaphat, Cuny Gilles, Thirakhupt Kumthorn, Suteethorn Varavudh (2011). "Atoposaurid crocodyliforms from the Khorat Group of Thailand: first record of Theriosuchus from Southeast Asia". Paläontologische Zeitschrift. 85 (1): 37–47. doi:10.1007/s12542-010-0071-z.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. Foster, J. (2018). "A new atoposaurid crocodylomorph from the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic) of Wyoming, USA". Geology of the Intermountain West. 5: 287–295. doi:10.31711/giw.v5i0.32. ISSN 2380-7601.
  5. Brinkmann, W. (1992). "Die Krokodilier-Fauna aus der Unter-Kreide (Ober-Barremium) von Uña (Provinz Cuenca, Spanien)". Berliner Geowissenschaftliche Abhandlungen (E). 5: 1–123.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  6. Martin Jeremy, Rabi Márton, Csiki Zoltán (2010). "Survival of Theriosuchus (Mesoeucrocodylia: Atoposauridae) in a Late Cretaceous archipelago: a new species from the Maastrichtian of Romania". Naturwissenschaften. 97 (9): 845–854. doi:10.1007/s00114-010-0702-y. PMID 20711558.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. Schwarz, Daniela and Salisbury, Steven W. (2005). "A new species of Theriosuchus (Atoposauridae, Crocodylomorpha) from the Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) of Guimarota, Portugal". Geobios. 38 (6): 779–802. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2004.04.005. ISSN 0016-6995.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link) PDF
  8. Schwarz Daniela, Raddatz Maik, Wings Oliver (2017). "Knoetschkesuchus langenbergensis gen. nov. sp. nov., a new atoposaurid crocodyliform from the Upper Jurassic Langenberg Quarry (Lower Saxony, northwestern Germany), and its relationships to Theriosuchus". PLoS ONE. 12 (2): e0160617. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0160617. PMC 5310792. PMID 28199316.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)


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