Gracilineustes

<i>Gracilineustes</i>

Gracilineustes

Extinct genus of reptiles

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 2.25–3.11 m (7.4–10.2 ft) long and G. acutus measuring 3.77 m (12.4 ft) long.[3]

Quick Facts Scientific classification, Type species ...
Holotype of G. leedsi, NHMUK PV R3540

Discovery and species

Skull and limb of G. leedsi

Fossil specimens referrable to Gracilineustes are known from Middle-Late Jurassic deposits of England and France.[4]

Valid species

  • G. leedsi: Western Europe (England) of the Middle Jurassic (Callovian);[1] Metriorhynchus laeve is a junior synonym.
  • G. acutus: Western Europe (France) of the Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) [2]

References

  1. [1]
    Andrews CW. 1913. A descriptive catalogue of the marine reptiles of the Oxford Clay, Part Two. London: British Museum (Natural History), 206 pp.
  2. [2]
    Lennier G. 1887. Description des fossiles du Cap de la Hève. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de Normandie, Le Havre 12: 17-98.
  3. [3]
    Young, M.T.; Bell, M.A.; de Andrade, M.B.; Brusatte, S.L. (2011). "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. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2011.00734.x.
  4. [4]
    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.


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