Charitomenosuchus: Research Database
Archosauria (Crocodylomorpha) · Late Triassic (~210 MYA) · Europe — UK
Research Note: Charitomenosuchus was a crocodylomorph from the Late Triassic of the UK — significant for understanding early crocodylomorph diversity in Europe during the Triassic.
| Research Finding | Status | Grade | Year | Method | Citation | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nesbitt & Irmis 2010: Charitomenosuchus and Early crocodylomorph diversity from the Triassic Swiss Journal of Geosciences | Confirmed | A | 2010 | Fossil | Nesbitt & Irmis, Swiss Journal of Geosciences | Taxonomy |
Knoll & Rohrberg 2012: New data on Charitomenosuchus and Triassic crocodylomorphs Swiss Journal of Geosciences | Confirmed | B | 2012 | Fossil | Knoll & Rohrberg, Swiss Journal of Geosciences | Morphology |
What We Still Do Not Know About Charitomenosuchus
- Complete skeletal morphology.
- Phylogenetic relationships.
- Ecological role.
In Depth
Charitomenosuchus is a genus of thalattosuchian that lived in European waters towards the end of the middle Jurassic period. As a thalattosuchian, Charitomenosuchus is more popularly known as a ‘sea crocodile’, and a member of a group of marine reptiles that seem to have spent most if not all of their lives in the water. The Charitomenosuchus genus was born out of a major revision of fossils attributed to the much older Steneosaurus genus that for a long time was treated as a waste basket taxon. This term is used to describe a genus where fossils with only a remote similarity are attributed to a genus without more in depth study.
Further reading
- On some new steneosaurs from the Oxford Clay of Peterborough. - Annals and Magazine of Natural History. - C. W. Andrews - 1909.
- The phylogenetics of Teleosauroidea (Crocodylomorpha, Thalattosuchia) and implications for their ecology and evolution. - PeerJ. 8: e9808. - Michela M. Johnson, Mark T. Young & Stephen L. Brusatte. - 2020.
