''Enaliosuchus'' is a dubious genus of

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

marine crocodyliform within the family

Metriorhynchidae Metriorhynchidae is an extinct family of specialized, aquatic metriorhynchoid crocodyliforms from the Middle Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous period (Bajocian to early Aptian) of Europe, North America and South America. The name Metriorhync ...

that lived during the Valanginian stage of the

Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous ( geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphic name), is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 145 Ma to 100.5 Ma. Geology Pro ...

. It is known from fossil remains found in France and Germany and it was first described in 1883,. The name ''Enaliosuchus'' means "Marine crocodile", and is derived from the Greek ''Enalios''- ("marine") and -''suchos'' ("crocodile"). Two species are known: the type species ''E. macrospondylus'', described in 1883, and the second species ''E. schroederi'', described in 1936,"Kuhn, O. (1936). ''Crocodilia. Fossilium Catalogus I: Animalia 75.'' Gracenhage: Junk, 114pp. which was likely the same animal as ''E. macrospondylus''. The Osteology of the Reptiles p103

Description

''Enaliosuchus'' was a carnivore that spent much, if not all, its life out at sea. No ''Enaliosuchus'' eggs or nest have been discovered, so little is known of the reptile's lifecycle, unlike other large marine reptiles of the Mesozoic, such as

plesiosaur The Plesiosauria (; Greek: πλησίος, ''plesios'', meaning "near to" and ''sauros'', meaning "lizard") or plesiosaurs are an order or clade of extinct Mesozoic marine reptiles, belonging to the Sauropterygia. Plesiosaurs first appeared ...

s or ichthyosaurs which are known to give birth to live young out at sea. Where ''Enaliosuchus'' mated, whether on land or at sea, is currently unknown.

Species

The species within ''Enaliosuchus'' include : * ''E. macrospondylus'': type species from France and Germany of the Early Cretaceous ( Valanginian). * ''E. schroederi'': from Germany of the Early Cretaceous Valanginian. (likely a junior synonym of ''E. macrospondylus'' Hua, S., Vignaud, P., Atrops, F. & Clément, A. (2000). ''Enaliosuchus macrospondylus'' Koken, 1883 (Crocodylia, Metriorhynchidae) du Valanginien de Barret-le-Bas (Hautes Alpes, France): un cas unique de remontée des narines externes parmi les crocodiliens. ''Geobios'' 33: 467-474.). Recent phylogenetic analysis supports the monophyly of ''Enaliosuchus''.Young M. T. (2007). The evolution and interrelationships of Metriorhynchidae (Crocodyliformes, Thalattosuchia). ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' 27 (3): 170A. However, ''Enaliosuchus'' was later found to be a highly derived member of the genus ''

Geosaurus ''Geosaurus'' is an extinct genus of marine crocodyliform within the family Metriorhynchidae, that lived during the Late Jurassic and the Early Cretaceous. ''Geosaurus'' was a carnivore that spent much, if not all, its life out at sea. No ''Geosa ...

'' or ''

Cricosaurus ''Cricosaurus'' is an extinct genus of marine crocodyliforms of the Late Jurassic. belonging to the family Metriorhynchidae. The genus was established by Johann Andreas Wagner in 1858 for three skulls from the Tithonian (Late Jurassic) of German ...

'',Wilkinson L. E, Young M. T, Benton M. J. (2008). A new metriorhynchid crocodilian (Mesoeucrocodylia: Thalattosuchia) from the Kimmeridgian (Upper Jurassic) of Wiltshire, UK. ''Palaeontology'' 51 (6): 1307-1333. but Sachs ''et al.'' (2020) supports the theory that ''Enaliosuchus'' is a separate genus and Sachs ''et al.'' also found ''E. schroederi'' conspecific to ''E. macrospondylus''.

References

{{portal, Paleontology Prehistoric pseudosuchian genera Prehistoric marine crocodylomorphs Early Cretaceous extinctions Early Cretaceous crocodylomorphs of Europe Fossil taxa described in 1883