Teleosaurus
| Teleosaurus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Holotype skull of T. cadomensis seen from multiple angles | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Archosauria |
| Clade: | Pseudosuchia |
| Clade: | Crocodylomorpha |
| Clade: | Crocodyliformes |
| Suborder: | †Thalattosuchia |
| Family: | †Teleosauridae |
| Subfamily: | †Teleosaurinae |
| Genus: | †Teleosaurus Geoffroy, 1825 vide Cuvier, 1824 |
| Binomial name | |
| †Teleosaurus cadomensis (Lamouroux, 1820)
| |
Teleosaurus, a wastebasket taxon,[1][2] is an extinct genus of teleosaurid crocodyliform that lived during the Middle Jurassic in France. It was approximately 3 metres (10 ft) in length.[3] The holotype is MNHN AC 8746, a quarter of a skull. Other fragmentary specimens are known. Teleosaurus was briefly noted by Lamoroux in 1820 and then he sent the specimen to Georges Cuvier. It was fully described by Cuvier in 1824,[4] but it was not published until a year later by Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire.[5]
Teleosaurus had highly elongate jaws, similar to those of a modern gharial.[6] It had a long, slender, body, with a sinuous tail that would have helped propel it through the water. Its forelimbs were remarkably short, and would probably have been held close to the body when swimming to improve the animal's streamlining. Unlike modern crocodilians, it lived in the open ocean, and it probably caught fish and squid with its sharp, needle-like teeth.[7]
References
- ^ "The taxonomy, systematics and ecomorphological diversity of Teleosauroidea (Crocodylomorpha, Thalattosuchia), and the evaluation of the genus 'Steneosaurus'". Archives of the University of Edinburgh. 2019.
- ^ Johnson, Michela M.; Young, Mark T.; Brusatte, Stephen L. (2020). "The phylogenetics of Teleosauroidea (Crocodylomorpha, Thalattosuchia) and implications for their ecology and evolution". PeerJ. 8: e9808. doi:10.7717/peerj.9808.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - ^ P. H. Phizackerley (1951). A revision of the Teleosauridae in the Oxford University Museum and the British Museum. The Annals and Magazine of Natural History 12(4): 1170–1192.
- ^ Cuvier G (1824) Article IV Des os de deux espèces inconnues de Gavials; trouvés pêle-mêle près de Honfleur et du Hâvre. Sur les Ossemens Fossiles. Nouvelle édition, Tome Cinquieme, Partie 2 Paris: Dufour & d’Occagne. 143–160.
- ^ Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire É (1825) Recherches sur l’organisation des gavials. Mém Mus Natl Hist Nat 12: 97–155.
- ^ R. Owen (1842). Report on British fossil reptiles, part II. Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science 11: 60-204.
- ^ Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 99. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
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