Gracilineustes Explained

Gracilineustes is an extinct genus of marine crocodyliform that lived in the oceans during the Middle to Late Jurassic. Gracilineustes was a carnivore that spent much, if not all, its life out at sea. It was a small reptile, with G. leedsi measuring long and G. acutus measuring long.^[1]

Discovery and species

Fossil specimens referrable to Gracilineustes are known from Middle-Late Jurassic deposits of England and France.^[2]

Valid species

• G. leedsi: Western Europe (England) of the Middle Jurassic (Callovian); Metriorhynchus laeve is a junior synonym.
• G. acutus: Western Europe (France) of the Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian)

Notes and References

1. 2011. Young. M.T.. Bell. M.A.. de Andrade. M.B.. Brusatte. S.L.. 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. 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2011.00734.x. free.
2. 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.