Biology:Suchodus

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Suchodus is an extinct genus of metriorhynchid thalattosuchian from the Middle to Late Jurassic period of England and France It measured between 3.3 and 4.7 m (11 and 15 ft) in total body length.[1] It was a fully marine reptile that would have fed on other large marine fauna.

Taxonomy and phylogeny

Suchodus was originally described by Richard Lydekker in 1890, based on the front part of a lower jaw (NHMUK PV R 1994) collected from the Oxford Clay near Peterborough, with the type species being S. durobrivensis.[2] Remains of this species have also been reported from the Marnes de Dives of Normandy in Northern France.[3] The genus was regarded as a junior synonym of Metriorhynchus by Andrews, 1913.[4] Later studies from the 2000s onwards questioned this synonymy.[5][6][7] Some authors have also included the species "S." brachyrhynchus, originally described for a specimen from the Callovian of Mesnil Bavent, Normandy, within the genus. Its placement in Suchodus has been questioned, and it has otherwise assigned to the genus Metriorhynchus or argued that it should be placed in its own new genus.[7]

Classification

Suchodus is a member of the metriorhynchid subfamily called Geosaurinae and the derived tribe Geosaurini. Members were generally large marine predators, adapted to open-ocean life with streamlined bodies, powerful tails, and long, robust jaws lined with sharp teeth. Suchodus is most closely related to the genus Plesiosuchus, both forming the group Plesiosuchina.

The cladogram below is from an analysis by Léa Girard and colleagues in their description of Torvoneustes jurensis.[8]

Geosaurinae
 
 

"Metriorhynchus" casamiquelai

 
 

"Metriorhynchus" westermanii

 
 
 
 

Neptunidraco ammoniticus

 
 
 

"Metriorhynchus" brachyrhynchus

 
Geosaurini
 
 
 
Geosaurina
 

Ieldraan melkshamensis

 
 
 

Geosaurus grandis

 
 
 

Geosaurus giganteus

 
 

Geosaurus lapparenti

 
 
 
 
 
Plesiosuchina
 

Suchodus durobrivensis

 
 

Plesiosuchus manselii

 
 
Dakosaurina
 

Mr Leeds dakosaur

 
 
 

Vaches Noires dakosaur

 
 
 

Dakosaurus maximus

 
 

Dakosaurus andiniensis

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
"Subclade T"
 

Tyrannoneustes lythrodectikos

 
 
 

Purranisaurus potens

 
 
"E Clade"
 

Swiss snout

 
 
 

Druegendorf Taxon

 
 
 

Chouquet cf. hastifer

 
 
 

English snout

 
 

Mr. Passmores Specimen

 
 
 
 
 
Torvoneustes
 

Torvoneustes coryphaeus

 
 
 

cf. Torvoneustes

 
 
 

Torvoneustes sp.

 
 
 

Torvoneustes mexicanus

 
 
 

Torvoneustes jurensis

 
 

Torvoneustes carpenteri

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

References

  1. ↑ Young, M.T.; Bell, M.A.; de Andrade, M.B.; Brusatte, S.L. (2011). "Body size estimation and evolution in metriorhynchid crocodylomorphs: implications for species diversification and niche partitioning". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 163 (4): 1199–1216. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2011.00734.x. 
  2. ↑ Lydekker R. 1890. On a crocodilian jaw from the Oxford Clay of Peterborough. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society 46: 284–288 .
  3. ↑ Lepage Y ,Buffetaut E, Hua S, Martin JE, Tabouelle J. 2008. Catalogue descriptif, anatomique, géologique et historique des fossiles présentés à l’exposition « Les Crocodiliens fossiles de Normandie » (6 novembre–14 decembre 2008). Bulletin de la Société Géologique de Normandie et des Amis du Muséum du Havre 95: 5–152 .
  4. ↑ Andrews C. W. (1913). A descriptive catalogue of the marine reptiles of the Oxford Clay, Part Two. London: British Museum (Natural History), 206 pp.
  5. ↑ Young, Mark T., and Marco Brandalise de Andrade, 2009. "What is Geosaurus? Redescription of Geosaurus giganteus (Thalattosuchia: Metriorhynchidae) from the Upper Jurassic of Bayern, Germany." Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 157: 551-585.
  6. ↑ Young, Mark T., Brusatte, Stephen L., Ruta, M., Andrade, Marco B. 2009. "The evolution of Metriorhynchoidea (Mesoeucrocodylia, Thalattosuchia): an integrated approach using geometrics morphometrics, analysis of disparity and biomechanics". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 158: 801-859.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Young, Mark T; Brignon, Arnaud; Sachs, Sven; Hornung, Jahn J; Foffa, Davide; Kitson, James J N; Johnson, Michela M; Steel, Lorna (2021-05-31). "Cutting the Gordian knot: a historical and taxonomic revision of the Jurassic crocodylomorph Metriorhynchus" (in en). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 192 (2): 510–553. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa092. ISSN 0024-4082. https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/192/2/510/5952483. 
  8. ↑ Girard, L. C.; De Sousa Oliveira, S.; Raselli, I.; Martin, J. E.; Anquetin, J. (2023). "Description and phylogenetic relationships of a new species of Torvoneustes (Crocodylomorpha, Thalattosuchia) from the Kimmeridgian of Switzerland". PeerJ 11: e15512. doi:10.7717/peerj.15512. 

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