Thalattosuchia Explained

Thalattosuchia is a clade of mostly marine crocodylomorphs from the Early Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous that had a cosmopolitan distribution.[1] They are colloquially referred to as marine crocodiles or sea crocodiles, though they are not members of Crocodilia and records from Thailand and China suggest that some members lived in freshwater.[2] The clade contains two major subgroupings, the Teleosauroidea and Metriorhynchoidea. Teleosauroids are not greatly specialised for oceanic life, with back osteoderms similar to other crocodyliformes. Within Metriorhynchoidea, the Metriorhynchidae displayed extreme adaptions for life in the open ocean, including the transformation of limbs into flippers, the development of a tail fluke, and smooth, scaleless skin,[3] and probably gave live birth, seemingly uniquely among archosaurs.[4]

Taxonomy

The term Thalattosuchia was coined by Fraas in 1901.[5] Various authors considered Thalattosuchia an infraorder or a suborder within "Mesosuchia". However, the term "Mesosuchia" is a paraphyletic group, and as such is no longer used. For consistency, the Thalattosuchia are here placed at suborder rank, although the order that contains it is unnamed. The exact phylogenetic position of Thalattosuchia is uncertain, with them either being interpreted as members of Neosuchia alongside other aquatic crocodylomorphs, or more basal members of Crocodylomorpha, with the similarities to neosuchians being as a result of convergent evolution.[6] The group consists of two major subgroupings, Teleosauroidea (containing the families Machimosauridae and Teleosauridae), and Metriorhynchoidea (containing Metriorhynchidae and some more basal taxa).[7]

Evolutionary history

Indeterminate remains possibly belonging to thalattosuchians have been reported from the Early Jurassic (Sinemurian) of Chile and France. However, they cannot be assigned to the group with confidence as they lack diagnostic characters. In 2023 a basal teleosauroid was reported from the earliest Jurassic (Hettangian-Sinemurian) of Morocco, representing one of the oldest known thalattosuchians.[8] Turnersuchus from the Pliensbachian of England appears to be basal to both Teleosauroidea and Metriorhynchoidea.[9] While abundant during the Jurassic, their fossil record during the Early Cretaceous is scarce, and generally confined to low latitudes. The latest records of the group date to the Aptian.[10] [11] Some members of Teleosauridae have been discovered in non-marine deposits.

Timeline of Thalattosuchia Species

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See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Alfio A. Chiarenza . Davide Foffa . Mark T. Young . Gianni Insacco . Andrea Cau . Giorgio Carnevale . Rita Catanzariti . 2015 . The youngest record of metriorhynchid crocodylomorphs, with implications for the extinction of Thalattosuchia . Cretaceous Research . 56 . 608–616 . 10.1016/j.cretres.2015.07.001 . 2318/1537833 . free .
  2. Martin. Jeremy E. . Suteethorn . S. . Lauprasert . K. . February 2019 . A new freshwater teleosaurid from the Jurassic of northeastern Thailand . Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 64 . 2 . 239–260 . en . 10.1080/02724634.2018.1549059. 91988192 .
  3. Spindler. Frederik. Lauer. René. Tischlinger. Helmut. Mäuser. Matthias. 2021-07-05. The integument of pelagic crocodylomorphs (Thalattosuchia: Metriorhynchidae). Palaeontologia Electronica. English. 24. 2. 1–41. 10.26879/1099. 1094-8074. free.
  4. Herrera . Y. . Fernandez . M.S. . Lamas . S.G. . Campos . L. . Talevi . M. . Gasparini . Z. . 2017 . Morphology of the sacral region and reproductive strategies of Metriorhynchidae: a counter-inductive approach . Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh . 106 . 4 . 247–255 . 10.1017/S1755691016000165 . free. 11336/66599 . free .
  5. Fraas E. 1901. Die Meerkrokodile (Thalattosuchia n. g.) eine neue Sauriergruppe der Juraformation. Jahreshefte des Vereins für vaterländische Naturkunde, Württemberg 57: 409-418.
  6. Wilberg. Eric W.. 2015-07-01. What's in an Outgroup? The Impact of Outgroup Choice on the Phylogenetic Position of Thalattosuchia (Crocodylomorpha) and the Origin of Crocodyliformes. Systematic Biology. en. 64. 4. 621–637. 10.1093/sysbio/syv020. 25840332 . 1076-836X. free.
  7. Johnson . Michela M. . Young . Mark T. . Brusatte . Stephen L. . 2020-10-08 . The phylogenetics of Teleosauroidea (Crocodylomorpha, Thalattosuchia) and implications for their ecology and evolution . PeerJ . en . 8 . e9808 . 10.7717/peerj.9808 . 33083104 . 2167-8359. 7548081 . free .
  8. Benani . Hicham . Nehili . Ayoub . Ouzzaouit . Lalla Amina . Jouve . Stéphane . Boudad . Larbi . Masrour . Moussa . Jalil . Noureddine . Arrad . Taha Younes . February 2023 . Discovery of the teleosauroid crocodylomorph from the early Jurassic of Chaara cave, Middle Atlas of Morocco . Journal of African Earth Sciences . en . 198 . 104804 . 10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2022.104804.
  9. Wilberg . E. W. . Godoy . P. L. . Griffiths . E. F. . Turner . A. H. . Benson . R. B. J. . 2023 . A new early diverging thalattosuchian (Crocodylomorpha) from the Early Jurassic (Pliensbachian) of Dorset, U.K. and implications for the origin and evolution of the group . Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 42 . 3 . e2161909 . 10.1080/02724634.2022.2161909 . 256149424 .
  10. Young . Mark T. . Sachs . Sven . 2021-09-02 . Evidence of thalattosuchian crocodylomorphs in the Portland Stone Formation (Late Jurassic) of England, and a discussion on Cretaceous teleosauroids . Historical Biology . en . 33 . 9 . 1473–1476 . 10.1080/08912963.2019.1709453 . 213426116 . 0891-2963. 20.500.11820/34b3dd5b-bc82-4c1a-b8ee-45fa3731d244 . free .
  11. Chiarenza . Alfio A. . Foffa . Davide . Young . Mark T. . Insacco . Gianni . Cau . Andrea . Carnevale . Giorgio . Catanzariti . Rita . September 2015 . The youngest record of metriorhynchid crocodylomorphs, with implications for the extinction of Thalattosuchia. Cretaceous Research . en . 56 . 608–616 . 10.1016/j.cretres.2015.07.001. 2318/1537833 . free .

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