Langstonia
Name:
Langstonia
(Named after Wann Langston Jr.).
Phonetic: Lang-sto-ne-ah.
Named By: A. Paolillo & O. J. Linares
- 2007.
Synonyms: Sebecus huilensis, Sebecosuchus
huilensis.
Classification: Chordata, Crocodylomorpha,
Notosuchia, Sebecosuchia, Sebecia, Sebecidae.
Species: L. huilensis
(type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Roughly estimated to be about 2.7 meters
long.
Known locations: Brazil? Colombia - Villavieja
Formation.
Time period: Possibly mid Plaeocene to the Mid
Miocene.
Fossil representation: Fragmentary remains of a few
individuals.
The
holotype fossils of Langstonia were first recovered
from Colombia in
1945, but they were not described until twenty years later when Wann
Langston Jr. described them as a species of the genus Sebecus.
For
almost fifty years afterward various other fossils were tentatively
placed with them and moved about until finally in 2007 a new study
of the original fossils by Paolillo and Linares came to the conclusion
that the holotype fossils did represent a species of Sebecus,
but
instead were those of a distinct genus. Langstonia
was chosen as the
name, and this was in recognition of the earlier work done by Wann
langston Jr.
Though
only known from fragmentary fossils mostly associated with the skull,
we can tell that Langstonia would have been a
predator, and one that
was mostly terrestrial. We know these facts first because the teeth
of Langstonia are known to be more laterally
compressed than those of
aquatic crocodiles
that are more conical. The teeth are also serrated
to allow them to more easily slice through flesh, meaning that
Langstonia would try to inflict wounds that
triggered severe blood loss
as opposed to holding while trying to drown prey like an aquatic
crocodile. What little of the post cranial skeleton that is known
does at least show us the back would have been quite strong and rigid
while the legs would have easily supported the body, both key
features that would have been necessary to walk about comfortably on
land. Langstonia has been considered to have
been an ambush
hunter, lurking amongst vegetation near game trails, and then
leaping out and delivering a wounding bite to soft bodied prey such as
the mammals living in South America at the time. Then Langstonia
would stalk the prey as it grew weak from blood loss until finally
succumbing to the wound, allowing the hunting Langstonia
to begin
eating.
With
the holotype fossils of Langstonia coming from the
mid Miocene, it
can be noted that Langstonia would have been among
the last notosuchian
crocodiles to live before they finally went extinct. This extinction
is thought to have been a result of the river systems and waterways of
northern South America drying out as a result of the Andes Mountains
rising up. This triggered a shift in the ecosystem which in turn
caused new animal types to appear which Langstonia
was not so well
suited to hunt.
Further reading
- New material of Sebecus cf. huilensis (Crocodylia: Sebecosuchidae)
from the Miocene of La Venta Formation of Colombia. - Journal of
Vertebrate Paleontology. 6: 20–27. - A. Busbey - 1986.
- 2007. Nuevos
cocodrilos
Sebecosuchia del Cenozoico Suramericano (Mesosuchia:
Crocodylia). - Paleobiologia Neotropical 3:1-25 - A.
Paolillo & O. J. Linares - 2007.
- The presence of Sebecus cf. huilensis
Langston (Sebecia, Metasuchia)
in the Middle Paleocene of the Itabora� Basin, Rio de Janeiro State,
Southeastern Brazil. - Ameghiniana. 48 (4, Supplemento): R91–R92. - A.
E. P. Pinheiro, D. A. Campos & L. P. Bergqvist - 2011.
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