Iliosuchus
Name:
Iliosuchus
(crocodile hipped).
Phonetic: Il-e-o-soo-kus.
Named By: Friedrich von Huene - 1932.
Synonyms: Megalosaurus incognitus.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Theropoda, Tetanurae.
Species: I. incognitus
(type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Roughly estimated to be about 1.5 meters
long.
Known locations: England.
Time period: Bathonian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: 3 ilia (parts of the hip
bones).
There is a lot of mystery surrounding Iliosuchus as the genus is only based upon the description of three ilia. These parts are not diagnostic enough to clearly identify what kind of theropod dinosaur Iliosuchus was, though in England during the Mid Jurassic the dominant theropod dinosaurs were the megalosaurs. A similarity to some tyrannosaurs has been noted however, a link that might not be that farfetched given that tyrannosauroid genera such as Juratyrant are known to have been present in England later in the Jurassic, and evolution tells us that these would have needed ancestors earlier in the Jurassic, perhaps about the time of Iliosuchus.
Further reading
- Die fossile Reptil-Ordnung Saurischia, ihre Entwicklung und
Geschichte. - Monographien zur Geologie und Palaeontologie,
serie 1 4(1-2): 1-361. - Friedrich von Huene - 1932.
- An assessment of variability in theropod dinosaur remains from the
Bathonian (Middle Jurassic) of Stonesfield and New Park Quarry,
UK and taxonomic implications for Megalosaurus bucklandii
and
Iliosuchus incognitus. - Palaeontology 52
857-877. - R.
B. J. Benson - 2009.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Random favourites
 |
 |
 |
 |