Cranial Morphology of <i>Theriosuchus sympiestodon</i> (Mesoeucrocodylia, Atoposauridae) and the Widespread Occurrence of <i>Theriosuchus</i> in the Late Cretaceous of Europe

Martin, Jérémy E.; Rabi, Márton; Csiki-Sava, Zoltán; Vasile, Ştefan

doi:10.1666/13-106

Cited by 42 publications

(95 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…It is also possible that the small body size of atoposaurids (and potentially bernissartiids) reflects insular dwarfism driven by a sea level-driven reduction in range size, as also proposed for the contemporaneous Late Jurassic German sauropod dinosaur Europasaurus (Sander et al, 2006;Marpmann et al, in press). This reasoning is also supported by the persistence of atoposaurids into the Maastrichtian as part of an assemblage of insular island dwarfs in a range of environments and localities, including the Haţeg Basin of Romania (Benton et al, 2010;Csiki & Benton, 2010;Martin, Rabi & Csiki, 2010;Martin et al, 2014). Dwarf crocodiles are also known from the Quaternary of the Aldabara Atoll (western Indian Ocean), with Aldabrachampsus dilophus (Brochu, 2006) indicating that island dwarfism in crocodylomorphs might not be an uncommon feature.…”

Section: European Atoposaurid Diversitymentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Currently valid European species of Theriosuchus include: T. guimarotae from the Kimmeridgian of Portugal (Schwarz & Salisbury, 2005); T. pusillus from the Berriasian of England (Owen, 1879;Salisbury, 2002); T. ibericus from the Barremian of Spain (Brinkmann, 1989;Brinkmann, 1992); and T. sympiestodon from the Maastrichtian of Romania (Martin, Rabi & Csiki, 2010;Martin et al, 2014). However, support for the monophyly of these species of Theriosuchus has yet to be adequately evaluated.…”

Section: European Atoposaurid Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…from: the Kimmeridgian of northwest Germany (Thies, Windolf & Mudroch, 1997;Karl et al, 2006); the Berriasian of Scandinavia (SchwarzWings, Rees & Lindgren, 2009); the Berriasian of Charente, France (Poueche, Mazin & Billon-Bruyat, 2006); the Berriasian-Valanginian of northern Germany (Hornung, 2013); the Valanginian-Barremian of England (Buffetaut, 1983); and the Hauterivian-Barremian of Iberia (Buscalioni & Sanz, 1984;Buscalioni & Sanz, 1987b;Ruiz-Omenaca et al, 2004;Buscalioni et al, 2008;Canudo et al, 2010). Indeterminate atoposaurid remains from the Cenomanian of France (Vullo & Néraudeau, 2008), and mid-Coniacian Kaiparowits Formation of Utah, US (Eaton et al, 1999), as well as Theriosuchus-like teeth from the Santonian of Hungary (Ösi et al, 2012) and the Upper Campanian-Maastrichtian of Portugal (Galton, 1996), bridge the temporal gap between these Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous atoposaurid remains and Theriosuchus sympiestodon from the latest Cretaceous of Romania (Martin, Rabi & Csiki, 2010;Martin et al, 2014). They also hint at a cryptic diversity of mid-Late Cretaceous atoposaurids, as well as their presence in North America.…”

Section: European Atoposaurid Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is tentative evidence to suggest that atoposaurids might have persisted beyond the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary, based on fragmentary material from the Middle Eocene of the Republic of Yemen (Stevens et al, 2013). The earliest known atoposaurid specimens are Theriosuchus-like teeth from the early (Kriwet, Rauhut & Gloy, 1997) and middle (Knoll et al, 2013) Bathonian (late Middle Jurassic) of southern France and the Bathonian of the UK (Evans & Milner, 1994), with Theriosuchus sympiestodon from the Maastrichtian of Romania the last known occurrence (Martin, Rabi & Csiki, 2010;Martin et al, 2014). Other putative and fragmentary occurrences potentially extend the distribution of Atoposauridae into the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous of Asia (Young, 1961;Efimov, 1976;Wu, Brinkman &Figure 1 (A) Geographic distribution of Late Jurassic atoposaurid specimen localities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Revision of the Late Jurassic crocodyliform Alligatorellus, and evidence for allopatric speciation driving high diversity in western European atoposaurids

Mannion¹

2017

Preprint

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Atoposaurid crocodyliforms represent an important faunal component of Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous Laurasian semi-aquatic to terrestrial ecosystems, with numerous spatiotemporally contemporaneous atoposaurids known from western Europe. In particular, the Late Jurassic of France and Germany records evidence for high diversity and possible sympatric atoposaurid species belonging to Alligatorellus, Alligatorium and Atoposaurus. However, atoposaurid taxonomy has received little attention, and many species are in need of revision. As such, this potentially high European diversity within a narrow spatiotemporal range might be a taxonomic artefact. Here we provide a taxonomic and anatomical revision of the Late Jurassic atoposaurid Alligatorellus. Initially described as A. beaumonti from the Kimmeridgian of Cerin, eastern France, additional material from the Tithonian of Solnhofen, south-eastern Germany, was subsequently referred to this species, with the two occurrences differentiated as A. beaumonti beaumonti and A. beaumonti bavaricus, respectively. We provide a revised diagnosis for the genus Alligatorellus, and note a number of anatomical differences between the French and German specimens, including osteoderm morphology and the configuration and pattern of sculpting of cranial elements. Consequently, we restrict the name Alligatorellus beaumonti to include only the French remains, and raise the rank of the German material to a distinct species: Alligatorellus bavaricus. A new diagnosis is provided for both species, and we suggest that a recently referred specimen from a coeval German locality cannot be conclusively referred to Alligatorellus. Although it has previously been suggested that Alligatorellus, Alligatorium and Atoposaurus might represent a single growth series of one species, we find no conclusive evidence to support this proposal, and provide a number of morphological differences to distinguish these three taxa that appear to be independent of ontogeny. Consequently, we interpret high atoposaurid diversity in the Late Jurassic island archipelago of western Europe as a genuine biological signal, with closely related species of Alligatorellus, Alligatorium and Atoposaurus in both French and German basins providing evidence for allopatric speciation, potentially driven by fluctuating highstand sea levels.

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Section: European Atoposaurid Diversitymentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: European Atoposaurid Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: European Atoposaurid Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Revision of the Late Jurassic crocodyliform Alligatorellus, and evidence for allopatric speciation driving high diversity in western European atoposaurids

Mannion¹

2017

Preprint

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“…However, this denticulation corresponds in fact to "false ziphodonty" sensu Prasad and Lapparent de Broin (2002). Similar variation in tooth morphology (i.e., gradient heterodonty) is known in the Late Jurassic to Late Cretaceous atoposaurid genus Theriosuchus, in which posteriormost teeth show a more or less developed pseudoziphodont condition (Owen, 1879;Thies et al, 1997;Schwarz and Salisbury, 2005;Schwarz-Wings et al, 2009;Martin et al, 2010;Lauprasert et al, 2011;Martin et al, 2014;. Therefore, the GEA atoposaurid is tentatively referred to cf.…”

Section: Systematic Paleontology Of the Guelb El Ahmar Faunamentioning

confidence: 85%

Guelb el Ahmar (Bathonian, Anoual Syncline, eastern Morocco): First continental flora and fauna including mammals from the Middle Jurassic of Africa

et al. 2016

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We report the discovery in Mesozoic continental "red beds" of Anoual Syncline, Morocco, of the new Guelb el Ahmar (GEA) fossiliferous sites in the Bathonian Anoual Formation. They produced one of the richest continental biotic assemblages from the Jurassic of Gondwana, including plants, invertebrates and vertebrates. Both the sedimentological facies and the biotic assemblage indicate a lacustrine depositional environment. The flora is represented by tree trunks (three families), pollen (13 species, five major clades) and charophytes. It suggests local forests and humid (non-arid) conditions. The vertebrate fauna is dominated by microvertebrates recovered by screening-washing. It is rich and diverse, with at least 29 species of all major groups (osteichthyans, lissamphibians, chelonians, diapsids, mammals), except chondrichthyans. It includes the first mammals discovered in the Middle Jurassic of Arabo-Africa. The GEA sites yielded some of the earliest known representatives of osteoglossiform fishes, albanerpetontid and caudate amphibians, squamates (scincomorphans, anguimorphan), cladotherian mammals, and likely choristoderes. The choristoderes, if confirmed, are the first found in Gondwana, the albanerpetontid and caudatan amphibians are among the very few known in Gondwana, and the anguimorph lizard is the first known from the Mesozoic of Gondwana. Mammals (Amphitheriida, cf. Dryolestida) remain poorly known, but are the earliest cladotherians known in Gondwana. The GEA biotic assemblage is characterized by the presence of Pangean and Laurasian (especially European) taxa, and quasi absence of Gondwanan taxa. The paleobiogeographical analysis suggests either a major fossil bias in Gondwana during the Middle Jurassic, and an overall vicariant Pangean context for the GEA assemblage, or alternatively, noticeable Laurasian (European) affinities and North-South dispersals. The close resemblance between the Bathonian faunas of GEA and Britain is remarkable, even in a Pangean context. The similarity between the local Anoual Syncline Guelb el Ahmar and Ksar Metlili faunas raises questions on the ?Berriasian age of the latter.

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A review of the non‐semiaquatic adaptations of extinct crocodylomorphs throughout their fossil record

Pochat‐Cottilloux

2024

The Anatomical Record

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Crocodylomorphs constitute a clade of archosaurs that have thrived since the Mesozoic until today and have survived numerous major biological crises. Contrary to historic belief, their semiaquatic extant representatives (crocodylians) are not living fossils, and, during their evolutionary history, crocodylomorphs have evolved to live in a variety of environments. This review aims to summarize the non‐semiaquatic adaptations (i.e., either terrestrial or fully aquatic) of different groups from different periods, highlighting how exactly those different lifestyles are inferred for those animals, with regard to their geographic and temporal distribution and phylogenetic relationships. The ancestral condition for Crocodylomorpha seems to have been a terrestrial lifestyle, linked with several morphological adaptations such as an altirostral skull, long limbs allowing a fully erect posture and a specialized dentition for diets based on land. However, some members of this clade, such as thalattosuchians and dyrosaurids display adaptations for an opposite, aquatic lifestyle, interestingly inferred from the same type of morphological observations. Finally, new techniques for inferring the paleobiology of those extinct animals have been put forward in the last decade, appearing as a complementary approach to traditional morphological descriptions and comparisons. Such is the case of paleoneuroanatomical (CT scan data), histological, and geochemical studies.

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Cranial Morphology of Theriosuchus sympiestodon (Mesoeucrocodylia, Atoposauridae) and the Widespread Occurrence of Theriosuchus in the Late Cretaceous of Europe

Cited by 42 publications

References 40 publications

Revision of the Late Jurassic crocodyliform Alligatorellus, and evidence for allopatric speciation driving high diversity in western European atoposaurids

Revision of the Late Jurassic crocodyliform Alligatorellus, and evidence for allopatric speciation driving high diversity in western European atoposaurids

Guelb el Ahmar (Bathonian, Anoual Syncline, eastern Morocco): First continental flora and fauna including mammals from the Middle Jurassic of Africa

A review of the non‐semiaquatic adaptations of extinct crocodylomorphs throughout their fossil record

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