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Saltoposuchus is an extinct genus of small, long-tailed crocodylomorph reptile (Sphenosuchia), from the Norian of Europe. The name translated means "leaping foot crocodile". It has been proposed that Terrestrisuchus gracilis and Saltoposuchus connectens represent different ontogenetic stages of the same genus. Saltoposuchus was commonly referred to in popular literature as the ancestor to dinosaurs; however, recent scientific research shows that this is not the case.
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Sphenosuchus is an extinct genus of crocodylomorph from the Early Jurassic Elliot Formation of South Africa, discovered and described early in the 20th century. The skull is preserved very well but other than elements of the forelimb and isolated parts of the hind limb, the Sphenosuchus material is incomplete. It was probably quadrupedal, but may have been a facultative biped.
Sphenosuchia is a suborder of basal crocodylomorphs that first appeared in the Triassic and occurred into the Middle Jurassic. Most were small, gracile animals with an erect limb posture. They are now thought to be ancestral to crocodyliforms, a group which includes all living crocodilians.
Orthosuchus is an extinct genus of crocodyliform that lived during the Early Jurassic, about 196 million years ago. It was first discovered in 1963 in the Red Beds Formation in the Qacha's Nek Province of Lesotho, southern Africa. The characteristics showed on its postcranial skeleton and the skull indicated that it is a crocodyliform. The finding is significant since some of the characteristics found on this specimen were believed to be absent until Jurassic.
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Litargosuchus is a sphenosuchian crocodylomorph, a basal member of the crocodylomorph clade from the Early Jurassic of South Africa. Its genus name Litargosuchus is derived from Greek meaning "fast running crocodile" and its species name leptorhynchus refers to its gracile snout. Litargosuchus, along with all of South Africa's crocodylomorph taxa, are confined to the upper Elliot Formation (UEF) in South Africa.
Pedeticosaurus is an extinct genus of crocodylomorph from the Clarens Formation of South Africa. The type species Pedeticosaurus leviseuri was named by Egbert Cornelis Nicolaas van Hoepen in 1915 on the basis of a mold of a mostly complete skeleton found in a quarry near Rosendal, Free State. The mold preserves most of the right half of the skeleton including the skull, ribs, dorsal vertebrae, forelimbs and hindlimbs, but not the tail. It is currently housed in the National Museum in Bloemfontein and cataloged as NMQR606.
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The Elliot Formation is a geological formation and forms part of the Stormberg Group, the uppermost geological group that comprises the greater Karoo Supergroup. Outcrops of the Elliot Formation have been found in the northern Eastern Cape, southern Free State, and in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal provinces of South Africa. Outcrops and exposures are also found in several localities in Lesotho such as Qacha's Neck, Hill Top, Quthing, and near the capital, Maseru. The Elliot Formation is further divided into the lower (LEF) and upper (UEF) Elliot formations to differentiate significant sedimentological differences between these layers. The LEF is dominantly Late Triassic (Norian-Hettangian) in age while the UEF is mainly Early Jurassic (Sinemurian-Pliensbachian) and is tentatively regarded to preserve a continental record of the Triassic-Jurassic boundary in southern Africa. This geological formation is named after the town of Elliot in the Eastern Cape, and its stratotype locality is located on the Barkly Pass, 9 km north of the town.
Eopneumatosuchus is an extinct genus of basal crocodyliform. Fossils have been found from two localities within the Kayenta Formation of Arizona. Both localities are around 20 miles southeast of the Grand Canyon and in close proximity to one another. The localities probably date back to the Early Jurassic, most likely during the Sinemurian stage.
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Microchampsa is an extinct genus of protosuchian crocodyliform that existed during the Early Jurassic. Fossils have been found from stratum 6 of the Dahuangtian locality, an outcrop of the Lower Red Beds of the Lufeng Formation in Yunnan, China.
Stegomosuchus is an extinct genus of small protosuchian crocodyliform. It is known from a single incomplete specimen discovered in the late 19th century in Lower Jurassic rocks of south-central Massachusetts, United States. It was originally thought to be a species of Stegomus, an aetosaur, but was eventually shown to be related to Protosuchus and thus closer to the ancestry of crocodilians. Stegomosuchus is also regarded as a candidate for the maker of at least some of the tracks named Batrachopus in the Connecticut River Valley.
Platyognathus is an extinct genus of protosuchian crocodyliform. Fossils are known from the Early Jurassic Lower Lufeng Formation in Yunnan, China and belong to the type and only species, P. hsui.
The Stormberg Group is one of the four geological groups that comprises the Karoo Supergroup in South Africa. It is the uppermost geological group representing the final phase of preserved sedimentation of the Karoo Basin. The Stormberg Group rocks are considered to range between Lower Triassic (Olenekian) to Lower Jurassic (Pliensbachian) in age. These estimates are based on means of geological dating including stratigraphic position, lithostratigraphic and biostratigraphic correlations, and palynological analyses.
The geology of Lesotho is built on ancient crystalline basement rock up to 3.6 billion years old, belonging to the Kaapvaal Craton, a section of stable primordial crust. Most of the rocks in the country are sedimentary or volcanic units, belonging to the Karoo Supergroup. The country is notable for large fossil deposits and intense erosion due to high rainfall and a rare case of southern African glaciation during the last ice age. Lesotho has extensive diamonds and other natural resources and has the highest concentration of kimberlite pipes anywhere in the world.
References
- 1 2 3 Dollman, Kathleen N.; Clark, James M.; Viglietti, Pia A.; Browning, Claire; Choiniere, Jonah N (2021). "Revised anatomy, taxonomy and biostratigraphy of Notochampsa istedana Broom, 1904, a Lower Jurassic crocodyliform from the Clarens Formation (Stormberg Group), and its implications for early crocodyliform phylogeny". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 19 (9): 651–675. doi:10.1080/14772019.2021.1948926. S2CID 238241175 . Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- ↑ Walker, A. D. (1990). "A revision of Sphenosuchus acutus Haughton, a crocodylomorph reptile from the Elliot Formation (Late Triassic or Early Jurassic) of South Africa". Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences. 330 (1256): 1–120. doi:10.1098/rstb.1990.0185.
- ↑ Nash, D. S. (1975). "The morphology and relationships of a crocodilian, Orthosuchus stormbergi, from the Upper Triassic of Lesotho". Annals of the South African Museum. 67 (1975)(7): 227–329.
- ↑ Durand, J. F. (2005). "Major African contributions to Palaeozoic and Mesozoic vertebrate palaeontology". Journal of African Earth Sciences. Phanerozoic Evolution of Africa. 43 (1–3): 53–82. Bibcode:2005JAfES..43...53D. doi:10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2005.07.014.
- ↑ Kitching, J. W.; Raath, M. A. (1984). "Fossils from the Elliot and Clarens formations (Karoo sequence) of the northeastern Cape, Orange Free State and Lesotho, and a suggested biozonation based on tetrapods". Paleontologica Africana. 25: 111–125.
- ↑ Broom, R. (1904). "On a new crocodilian genus (Notochampsa) from the upper Stormberg beds of South Africa". Geological Magazine. New Series, Decade V. 1 (12): 582–584. Bibcode:1904GeoM....1..582B. doi:10.1017/S0016756800124367. S2CID 128988222.
- ↑ Haughton, S. H. (1924). "The fauna and stratigraphy of the Stormberg Series". Annals of the South African Museum. 12: 323–497.
- ↑ Romer, A. S. (1956). Osteology of the Reptiles. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-89464-985-X.
- ↑ Steel, R. (1973). "Crocodylia". In Kuhn, O. (ed.). Handbuch der Palaoherpetologie (16 ed.). Stuttgart: G. Fischer Verlag. pp. 1–116.
- ↑ Huene, F. von (1925). "Die Bedeutung der Sphenosuchus-Gruppe fur den Ursprung der Krokodile". Z. Indukt. Abstamm.-u. Vererblehre. 38: 307–322. doi:10.1007/BF02118235. S2CID 12461978.
