Litargosuchus
| Litargosuchus Temporal range: Early Jurassic
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| Genus: | Litargosuchus
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| Litargosuchus leptorhynchus Clark & Sues, 2002
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Litargosuchus ("fast running crocodile") was a sphenosuchian crocodylomorph from the Early Jurassic of South Africa. Its remains were originally described by Gow and James Kitching in 1988 as belonging to Pedeticosaurus sp. . The fossils was re-described in 2002 by James Clark and Hans-Dieter Sues, who gave it a new name.
The type species is L. leptorhynchus, for its thin and delicate muzzle.
Material
The holotype for Litargosuchus was found by James Kitching, of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, on strata belonging to the lower part of the Elliot Formation, just 2 meters above the Clarens Formation. It was given the number BP/1/5237, and assigned by Gow and Kitching to Pedeticosaurus sp. The material consists of a skull, mandible and part of the postcranial skeleton.
The locality it was found on indicates that it belongs to the Early Jurassic.
Systematics
- See Sphenosuchia for details on sphenosuchian phylogeny
According to its description, Litargosuchus belongs to the Sphenosuchidae. However, phylogenetic relationships within the Sphenosuchia are poorly understood, so its status within this clade is uncertain.
References
- Clark, J. M. & Sues, H.-D., (2002) Two new basal crocodylomorph archosaurs from the Lower Jurassic and the monophyly of Sphenosuchia. – Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society: Vol. 136, #1, pp. 77-95