''Lusitanisuchus'' is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

mesoeucrocodylia Mesoeucrocodylia is the clade that includes Eusuchia and crocodyliforms formerly placed in the paraphyletic group Mesosuchia. The group appeared during the Early Jurassic, and continues to the present day. Diagnosis It was long known that M ...

crocodylomorph Crocodylomorpha is a group of pseudosuchian archosaurs that includes the crocodilians and their extinct relatives. They were the only members of Pseudosuchia to survive the end-Triassic extinction. During Mesozoic and early Cenozoic times, cro ...

. Mostly fragmentary

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s have been found from several localities in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and are

Late Jurassic The Late Jurassic is the third epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time from 163.5 ± 1.0 to 145.0 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata.Owen 1987. In European lithostratigraphy, the name ...

and

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 ...

in age. The only

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

, ''Lusitanisuchus mitracostatus'', was named in 2004 after having previously been described as a species of the genus '' Lisboasaurus'' in 1970. ''L. mitracostatus'' was originally thought to have been an

anguimorph The Anguimorpha is a suborder of squamates. The group was named by Fürbringer in 1900 to include all autarchoglossans closer to '' Varanus'' and ''Anguis'' than ''Scincus''. These lizards, along with iguanians and snakes, constitute the propo ...

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

upon its naming in 1970 based on fragmentary jaw remains and isolated teeth found from the Kimmeridgean-age Guimarota Formation in

Leiria Leiria (; cel-x-proto, ɸlāryo) is a city and municipality in the Central Region of Portugal. It is the 2nd largest city in that same region, with a municipality population of 128,640 (as of 2021) in an area of . It is the seat of its own distr ...

. The species was later regarded as a ''

nomen dubium In binomial nomenclature, a ''nomen dubium'' (Latin for "doubtful name", plural ''nomina dubia'') is a scientific name that is of unknown or doubtful application. Zoology In case of a ''nomen dubium'' it may be impossible to determine whether a s ...

'' by several authors of papers regarding ''Lisboasaurus'' due to the incomplete nature of the known remains associated with the species. However, a later reexamination of fossils from the Guimarota Formation had found skull material that included a

dentary In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower tooth, teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movabl ...

similar to the one seen in the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

of ''L. mitracostatus''. These remains, being more complete than those of the holotype, showed that ''L. mitracostatus'' was really a crocodylomorph rather than an anguimorph. Furthermore, it was shown to be a genus distinct from ''Lisboasaurus'', which had by then been shown to be a crocodylomorph as well. Several teeth referable to ''Lusitanisuchus'' were also found from Porto Dinheiro,

Lourinhã Lourinhã () is a municipality in the District of Lisbon, in the Oeste Subregion of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 25,735, in an area of 147.17 km². The seat of the municipality is the town of Lourinhã, with a population of 8,800 inhab ...

in strata deposited during the

Berriasian In the geological timescale, the Berriasian is an age/stage of the Early/Lower Cretaceous. It is the oldest subdivision in the entire Cretaceous. It has been taken to span the time between 145.0 ± 4.0 Ma and 139.8 ± 3.0 Ma (million years ago) ...

stage of the Early Cretaceous, extending the temporal range of this taxon by about 15 Ma.

Paleobiology

''Lusitanisuchus'' coexisted with many dinosaurs from the Lusitanian Basin during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. Dinosaur fossils found from the Guimarota Formation include tyrannosauroids such as '' Aviatyrannis'' and ''

Stokesosaurus ''Stokesosaurus'' (meaning "Stokes' lizard") is a genus of small (around in length), carnivorous early tyrannosauroid theropod dinosaurs from the late Jurassic period of Utah, United States. History From 1960 onwards Utah geologist William L ...

'', the

ornithopod Ornithopoda () is a clade of ornithischian dinosaurs, called ornithopods (), that started out as small, bipedal running grazers and grew in size and numbers until they became one of the most successful groups of herbivores in the Cretaceous world ...

'' Phyllodon'', and the small

coelurosaur Coelurosauria (; from Greek, meaning "hollow tailed lizards") is the clade containing all theropod dinosaurs more closely related to birds than to carnosaurs. Coelurosauria is a subgroup of theropod dinosaurs that includes compsognathids, tyrann ...

Compsognathus ''Compsognathus'' (; Greek ''kompsos''/κομψός; "elegant", "refined" or "dainty", and ''gnathos''/γνάθος; "jaw") is a genus of small, bipedal, carnivorous theropod dinosaur. Members of its single species ''Compsognathus longipes'' c ...

''. The Porto Dinheiro locality included dinosaurs such as the

diplodocid Diplodocids, or members of the family Diplodocidae ("double beams"), are a group of sauropod dinosaurs. The family includes some of the longest creatures ever to walk the Earth, including ''Diplodocus'' and ''Supersaurus'', some of which may have ...

Dinheirosaurus ''Dinheirosaurus'' is a genus of diplodocid sauropod dinosaur that is known from fossils uncovered in modern-day Portugal. It may represent a species of ''Supersaurus''. The only species is ''Dinheirosaurus lourinhanensis'', first described by J ...

'' as well as early mammals such as '' Portopinheirodon''.Bonaparte, J. F. and Mateus, O (1999). A new diplodocid, ''Dinheirosaurus lourinhanensis gen. et sp. nov.'', from the Late Jurassic beds of Portugal. ''Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales'' 5:13–29.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2743481 Early Cretaceous crocodylomorphs of Europe Late Jurassic crocodylomorphs of Europe Kimmeridgian first appearances Early Cretaceous genus extinctions Early Cretaceous reptiles of Europe Prehistoric pseudosuchian genera