View source for Biology:Atoposaurus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of reptiles}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = Late Jurassic
| image = Atoposaurus oberndorfi Teylers.JPG
| image_caption = Fossil of ''Atoposaurus oberndorferi'' in Teyler's Museum
| taxon = Atoposaurus
| authority = von Meyer, 1850
| subdivision_ranks=[[Biology:Species|Species]]
| subdivision=
*''A. oberndorferi'' <small>von Meyer, 1850 ([[Biology:Type species|type]])</small>
*''A. jourdani'' <small>von Meyer, 1851</small>
}}

'''''Atoposaurus''''' is an extinct [[Biology:Genus|genus]] of [[Biology:Crocodylomorpha|crocodylomorph]]. It is the [[Biology:Type genus|type genus]] of the family [[Biology:Atoposauridae|Atoposauridae]]. [[Biology:Fossil|Fossil]]s have been found that were Late Jurassic in age from two distinct [[Biology:Species|species]] in {{wipe|France}} and {{wipe|Germany}}.

One interesting feature of ''Atoposaurus'' is that it lacked [[Biology:Scute|dorsal scutes]], a common characteristic of atoposaurids as well as most [[Biology:Crurotarsi|crurotarsans]]. The absence of scutes, along with its relatively small size (specimens reach lengths of up to 17&nbsp;cm), narrow supratemporal fossae, wide [[Biology:Occipital bone|occipital region]], thin [[Biology:Postorbital bar|postorbital bar]], and smooth ornamentation,<ref>lordansky, N N ( 1973) The skull of the Crocodilia ''In Biology of the Reptilia'', edited by Gans, C and Parsons, T S , pp 201-262 Academic Press, London and New York.</ref> has led some paleontologists to believe that it is perhaps a juvenile form of another genus within Atoposauridae, most likely ''[[Biology:Alligatorellus|Alligatorellus]]''.<ref>Buscalioni, Angela D.; and Jose Luis Sanz (1988). Phylogenetic Relationships of the Atoposauridae (Archosauria, Crocodylomorpha). Historical Biology I: 233-250</ref>

==History of the holotype==
[[File:Atoposaurus.jpg|thumb|''Atoposaurus'' ''oberndorferi'' |left]]
The Teylers Museum has a [[Biology:Holotype|holotype]] specimen ''Atoposaurus oberndorfi'' that was bought by curator J.G.S. van Breda in 1863 from Adam August Krantz (1809-1872), dealer in minerals in Bonn from 1850 onwards. The purchase was made along with the other holotypes ''[[Biology:Sapheosaurus|Sapheosaurus]] laticeps'', ''Homeosaurus maximilliani'', ''Rhamphorhynchus gemmingi'', ''Pterodactylus longirostris'' and ''Pterodactylus meyeri'', based on the book ''Zur Fauna der Vorwelt'' (1860) by Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer.<ref>Research Bert Sliggers, conservator Paleontological cabinet Teylers Museum, 2012</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://paleodb.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=checkTaxonInfo&taxon_no=38352&is_real_user=1 ''Atoposaurus''] in the [[Biology:Paleobiology Database|Paleobiology Database]]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q4817431}}

[[Category:Neosuchians]]
[[Category:Prehistoric pseudosuchian genera]]



{{Sourceattribution|Atoposaurus}}