Dolichosuchus
| Dolichosuchus | ||||||||||
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Holotype (BMNH 38058) of Dolichosuchus cristatus |
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||
| Upper Triassic Lacium ( Lower Norium ) to Alaunium (Middle Norium) | ||||||||||
| approx. 220 to approx. 209 million years | ||||||||||
| Locations | ||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Dolichosuchus | ||||||||||
| von Huene , 1932 | ||||||||||
| Art | ||||||||||
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Dolichosuchus was a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Upper Triassic . The only the monotypic genus associated type is dolichosuchus cristatus . Genus and type species arecountedas nomen dubium .
Etymology and history of research
The generic name is made up of the ancient Greek δολιχός (“ dolichos ”) “long” and the Latinized form (“ suchus ”) for the ancient Greek name Σοῦχος (“ Souchos ”) of the Egyptian crocodile god Sobek . The additional species “ cristatus ” ( Latin : “comb-carrying”) refers to a bone ridge as a muscle attachment point at the proximal end of the shin bone . The name of the species can be roughly translated as “long crocodile with a comb” and is somewhat misleading, since it was not a crocodile and the characteristics given in the name only relate to characteristics of the shin bone and do not provide any information about the appearance of the entire animal .
The genus and type species were first described by Friedrich von Huene in 1932 as a representative of the coelurosaurs and placed in the group of the Hallopodidae , although he emphasized that this assignment was rather provisional.
Rauhut and Hungerbühler noted in 2000, as did von Huene in 1934, that they were very similar to the shin bones of Liliensternus liliensterni and Dilophosaurus wetherilli and placed Dolichosuchus in the group of Coelophysoidea . However, the authors also point out that the existing fossil material is not suitable for classification at the generic or even species level. Accordingly, they evaluate the taxon Dolichosuchus cristatus as a nomen dubium. Tykoski and Rowe rate the taxon 2004 as nomen dubium within the Ceratosauria even more cautiously .
Fossil evidence and age rating
The only fossil evidence for Dolichosuchus is an approx. 30 cm long fragment of a shin bone from the Lower or Middle Stubensandstein (= 1st and 2nd Stubensandstein) from Kaltental (Stuttgart) . The original fossil is in the Natural History Museum (formerly British Museum of Natural History - "BMNH") in London under the inventory number BMNH 38058.
Based on Conchostraken , Kozur and Weems place the 1st room sandstone in the Lacium and the 2nd room sandstone in the Alaunium . The fossil shin bone can thus be assigned an age of around 209 to 220 million years.
Features and way of life
Both von Huene and Rauhut and Hungerbühler describe a very pronounced lateral cnemial crest (cnemial ridge) at the proximal end of the shin bone. This feature and a lateral bone ridge at the connection point to the fibula indicate Dolichosuchus as a representative of the Theropoda .
If the assignment to the Coelophysoidea is correct, Dolichosuchus can be seen as a bipedal carnivore . Carrano and Sampson compare the size of Dolichosuchus with that of Gojirasaurus and Dilophosaurus , which would correspond to a body length of about 5 to 6 m.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e O. WM Rauhut & A. Hungerbühler: A review of European Triassic theropods. In: Gaia , Vol. 15, pp. 75–88, 2000. (digitized version)
- ↑ a b c d F. v. Huene: The fossil reptile order Saurischia, its development and history. In: Monographs on Geology and Palaeontology , Series I, Issue 4, 361 pp. & 56 panels with explanations, 1932. (Text part) ( Memento of the original from May 11, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and still Not checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Panel part)
- ↑ F. v. Huene: A new coelurosaur from the Thuringian Triassic. In: Paläontologische Zeitschrift , Volume 16, Issue 3/4, pp. 145–170, 1934.
- ^ RS Tykoski & T. Rowe: Ceratosauria. In: DB Weishampel, P. Dodson & H. Osmólska (eds.): The Dinosauria , 2nd Edition, pp. 47–70, University of California Press, 2004. (excerpt)
- ^ HW Kozur & RE Weems: Upper Triassic Conchostracan Biostratigraphy of the Continental Rift Basins of Eastern Northamerica: Its Importance for Correlating Newark Supergroup Events with the Germanic Basin and the International Geologic Time Scale. In: SG Lucas & JA Spielmann (eds.): The Global Triassic. In: New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin , Vol. 41, pp. 137–188, 2007. (digitized version )
- ↑ SG Lucas: The Late Triassic Timescale. In: LH Tanner (Ed.): The Late Triassic World - Earth in a Time of Transition , pp. 1–25, Springer, 2017. (digitized version)
- ↑ MT Carrano & SD Sampson: A review of coelophysoids (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Lower Jurassic of Europe, with comments on the late history of the Coelophysoidea. In: New Yearbook for Geology and Paleontology - Monthly Issues, Volume 2004, Issue 9, pp. 537–558, 2004. (digitized version )
