Atoposaurus Temporal range: Late Jurassic | |
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Fossil of Atoposaurus oberndorferi in Teyler's Museum | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Clade: | Archosauria |
Clade: | Pseudosuchia |
Clade: | Crocodylomorpha |
Clade: | Crocodyliformes |
Family: | † Atoposauridae |
Genus: | † Atoposaurus von Meyer, 1850 |
Species | |
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Atoposaurus is an extinct genus of crocodylomorph. It is the type genus of the family Atoposauridae. Fossils have been found that were Late Jurassic in age from two distinct species in France and Germany.
One interesting feature of Atoposaurus is that it lacked dorsal scutes, a common characteristic of atoposaurids as well as most crurotarsans. The absence of scutes, along with its relatively small size (specimens reach lengths of up to 17 cm), narrow supratemporal fossae, wide occipital region, thin postorbital bar, and smooth ornamentation, [1] has led some paleontologists to believe that it is perhaps a juvenile form of another genus within Atoposauridae, most likely Alligatorellus . [2]
The Teylers Museum has a 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 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. [3]
Pterodactylus is a genus of extinct pterosaurs. It is thought to contain only a single species, Pterodactylus antiquus, which was the first pterosaur to be named and identified as a flying reptile and one of the first prehistoric reptiles to ever be discovered.
Rhamphorhynchus is a genus of long-tailed pterosaurs in the Jurassic period. Less specialized than contemporary, short-tailed pterodactyloid pterosaurs such as Pterodactylus, it had a long tail, stiffened with ligaments, which ended in a characteristic soft-tissue tail vane. The mouth of Rhamphorhynchus housed needle-like teeth, which were angled forward, with a curved, sharp, beak-like tip lacking teeth, indicating a diet mainly of fish; indeed, fish and cephalopod remains are frequently found in Rhamphorhynchus abdominal contents, as well as in their coprolites.
Ornithostoma is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous period of Europe, around 110 million years ago. Ornithostoma was once thought to have been a senior synonym of the pteranodontid Pteranodon due to its toothless anatomy and prior naming.
Cycnorhamphus is a genus of gallodactylid ctenochasmatoid pterosaur from the Late Jurassic period of France and Germany, about 152 million years ago. It is synonymous with the genus Gallodactylus.
Diopecephalus is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Lower Tithonian of the Lithographic Limestone, Bavaria, Germany. The type and only species is D. kochi, although the name has been applied to Pterodactylus longicollum, with longicollum erroneously listed as the type species.
Dolicorhamphus is an extinct genus of pterosaurs from the Middle Jurassic Taynton Limestone Formation and Fuller's Earth Formations of England. The genus contains two species, D. bucklandii and D. depressirostris.
Pachycheilosuchus is an extinct genus of neosuchian from the Early Cretaceous of Texas, United States. Previously known, in part, as the "Glen Rose form", this crocodylomorph is notable for its procoelous vertebrae, otherwise found only in derived eusuchian crocodilians, a thick margin on the maxillae, and a shield of armor on the neck formed by the fusion of six individual scutes.
Mesodermochelys is an extinct genus of sea turtle known from the Campanian to the Maastrichtian of what today is Japan and from the Maastrichtian of Chile. One species is known, the type species M. undulatus; it was given its binomial name by Ren Hirayama and Tsutomu Chitoku in 1996. Studies of its skull indicate that it was a primitive member of the Dermochelyidae that was closely related to the Protostegidae. It has been described as the best representative of Mesozoic dermochelyids.
Alligatorium is an extinct genus of atoposaurid crocodylomorph from Late Jurassic marine deposits in France.
Acherontemys is an extinct genus of turtle from Eocene sediments in northwestern North America and comprising a single species Acherontemys heckmani. Acherontemys has been placed within the pond turtle superfamily Testudinoidea as part of the clade Pan-Emydidae.
Hoplosuchus is a genus of crocodyliform belonging to Protosuchidae. It is so far only known definitely from one specimen, a skeleton collected from sandstone of the Upper Jurassic-age Morrison Formation rocks at Dinosaur National Monument, Utah, during road construction. The individual was small, approximately 20 centimetres (7.9 in) long, although it may have been very young. It is the basalmost crocodyliform of the Morrison Formation, as suggested by such attributes as still having antorbital fenestrae in the skull. The limbs were relatively long, suggesting that the animal was terrestrial. Two rows of bony scutes ran down the back. The crowns of the teeth are not well preserved, so the diet cannot be determined with certainty. Given its small size, it probably ate insects and small vertebrates; it may have been carnivorous or omnivorous.
Sierritasuchus is an extinct genus of aetosaur in the subfamily Desmatosuchinae. It is known from a small holotype skeleton from the Late Triassic Tecovas Formation of Texas. This skeleton was discovered in 1939 and was originally assigned to the genus Desmatosuchus. It was placed in its own genus in 2008 after having been in the collections of the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology, with the type species being S. macalpini. The generic name refers to Sierrita de la Cruz Creek where the holotype was found, and the specific name refers to Archie MacAlpin, who discovered the skeleton. Based on the histology of the scutes of the holotype, the individual was a subadult that was not fully grown.
Aurorazhdarcho is an extinct genus of ctenochasmatoid pterosaur known from the Late Jurassic period of what is now Bavaria, southern Germany.
Ardeadactylus is an extinct genus of ctenochasmatoid pterosaur known from the Late Jurassic Solnhofen limestone of Bavaria, southern Germany. It contains a single species, Ardeadactylus longicollum, which was originally thought to be a species of Pterodactylus, as P. longicollum.
Cimoliopterus is a genus of pterosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous in what is now England and the United States. The first known specimen, consisting of the front part of a snout including part of a crest, was discovered in the Grey Chalk Subgroup of Kent, England, and described as the new species Pterodactylus cuvieri in 1851. The specific name cuvieri honours the palaeontologist George Cuvier, whereas the genus Pterodactylus was then used for many pterosaur species that are not thought to be closely related today. It was among the first pterosaurs to be depicted as sculptures, in Crystal Palace Park in the 1850s. The species was subsequently assigned to various other genera, including Ornithocheirus and Anhanguera. In 2013, the species was moved to a new genus, as Cimoliopterus cuvieri; the generic name Cimoliopterus is derived from the Greek words for "chalk" and "wing". Other specimens and species have also been assigned to or synonymised with the species with various levels of certainty. In 2015, a snout discovered in the Britton Formation of Texas, US, was named as a new species in the genus, C. dunni; the specific name honours its collector, Brent Dunn.
Lonchodraco is a genus of lonchodraconid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous of southern England. The genus includes species that were previously assigned to other genera.
Camposipterus is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous of England. Fossil remains of Camposipterus dated back to the Early Cretaceous, about 112 million years ago.
Kunbarrasaurus is an extinct genus of small ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Cretaceous of Australia. The genus contains a single species, K. ieversi.
Ostromia is a genus of anchiornithid theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Painten Formation of Germany. The genus contains a single species, O. crassipes, named by Christian Foth and Oliver Rauhut in 2017.
Aerodraco is a genus of anhanguerid pterosaur from the Albian–Cenomanian-age Cambridge Greensand of England. It contains only one species, Aerodraco sedgwickii. It was originally assigned to the genus Pterodactylus.