Lusitanisuchus

Lusitanisuchus is an extinct genus of mesoeucrocodylian crocodylomorph. Mostly fragmentary fossils have been found from several localities in Portugal and are Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous in age.

Lusitanisuchus
Temporal range: Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous, 155–140 Ma
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Sauropsida
Subclass:
Diapsida
(unranked):
Archosauria
Superorder:
Crocodylomorpha
Genus:
†Lusitanisuchus

Schwarz and Fechner, 2004
Binomial name
†Lusitanosuchus mitracostatus
Schwarz and Fechner, 2004
Synonyms

The type and only species, Lusitanisuchus mitracostatus, was named in 2004 after having previously been described as a species of the genus Lisboasaurus.[1] L. mitracostatus was originally thought to have been an anguimorph lizard upon its naming in 1970[2][3][4] based on fragmentary jaw remains and isolated teeth found from the Kimmeridgean-age Guimarota Formation in Leiria . The species was later regarded as a nomen dubium by several authors of papers regarding Lisboasaurus due to the incomplete nature of the known remains associated with the species.[5][6] However, a later reexamination of fossils from the Guimarota Formation had found skull material that included a dentary similar to the one seen in the holotype of L. mitracostatus. These remains, being more complete than those of the holotype, showed that L. mitracostatus was really a crocodylomorph rather than an anguimorph. Furthermore, it was shown to be a genus distinct from Lisboasaurus, which had by then been shown to be a crocodylomorph as well.

Several teeth referable to Lusitanisuchus were also found from Porto Dinheiro, Lourinhã in strata deposited during the Berriasian stage of the Early Cretaceous, extending the temporal range of this taxon by about 15 Ma.

Paleobiology

Lusitanisuchus coexisted with many dinosaurs from the Lusitanian Basin during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. Dinosaur fossils found from the Guimarota Formation include tyrannosauroids such as Aviatyrannis and Stokesosaurus, the ornithopod Phyllodon, and the small coelurosaur Compsognathus.[7] The Porto Dinheiro locality included dinosaurs such as the diplodocid Dinheirosaurus as well as early mammals such as Portopinheirodon.[8]

References
  1. Schwarz, D. and Fechner, R. (2004). Lusitanisuchus, a new generic name for Lisboasaurus mitracostatus (Crocodylomorpha: Mesoeucrocodylia), with a description of new remains from the Upper Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) and Lower Cretaceous (Berriasian) of Portugal. Canadian Journal of Earth Science 41(10):1259–1271.
  2. Seiffert, J. (1970). "Oberjurassische Lacertilier aus der Kohlengrube Guimarota bei Leiria (Mittel Portugal)". Unpublished Inaugural-Dissertation, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany.
  3. Seiffert, J. (1973). "Upper Jurassic Lizards from Central Portugal". Memória dos Servicos Géologicos de Portugal (N.S.) 22: 7–88.
  4. J. Seiffert. (1975.) Upper Jurassic lizards from central Portugal. Contribuição para o conhecimento da Fauna do Kimerridgiano da Mina de Lignito Guimarota (Leiria, Portugal). Serviços Geológicos de Portugal, Memória (Nova Série) 22:7-85
  5. Milner, A. R. and Evans, S. E. (1991). The Upper Jurassic diapsid Lisboasaurus estesi — a maniraptoran theropod. Palaeontology 34:503–513.
  6. Buscalioni, A. D., Ortega, F., Pérez-Moreno, B. P., and Evans, S. E. (1996). The Upper Jurassic maniraptoran theropod Lisboasaurus estesi (Guimarota, Portugal) reinterpreted as a crocodylomorph. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 16(2):358–362.
  7. Weishampel, D. B., Barret, P. M., Coria, R. A., Loeuff, J. L., Xing, X., Xijin, Z., Sahni, A., Gomani, E. M. P. and Noto, C. R. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution". In: Weishampel, D, B., Dodson, P. and Osmólska, H., eds., The Dinosauria, 2nd ed. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 545–549.
  8. Bonaparte, J. F. and Mateus, O (1999). A new diplodocid, Dinheirosaurus lourinhanensis gen. et sp. nov., from the Late Jurassic beds of Portugal. Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales 5:13–29.
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