''Sericodon'' is an

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 ...

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 ...

of teleosaurid crocodyliform from the

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 ...

(

Tithonian In the geological timescale, the Tithonian is the latest age of the Late Jurassic Epoch and the uppermost stage of the Upper Jurassic Series. It spans the time between 152.1 ± 4 Ma and 145.0 ± 4 Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by the K ...

) of Germany and Switzerland. The genus contains a single species, ''S. jugleri''. ''Sericodon'' was placed in 'Clade T' (Aeolodontinae) and was found to be the

sister taxon In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and t ...

to ''

Bathysuchus ''Bathysuchus'' ("deep water crocodile") is an extinct genus of teleosaurid thalattosuchian from Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) deep water marine deposits in England and France. ''Bathysuchus'' displays features that suggest it was more pelagic th ...

'', another teleosaurid.

Taxonomy

''Sericodon'' was named for teeth from Late Jurassic deposits in Hanover, Germany, and Solothurn, Switzerland (

Reuchenette Formation The Reuchenette Formation is a Jurassic geologic formation in Switzerland. It is Kimmeridgian in age and predominantly consists of well stratified limestone, with lithology variable both laterally and stratigraphically including wackestones, pack ...

) by

Hermann von Meyer Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer (3 September 1801 – 2 April 1869), known as Hermann von Meyer, was a German palaeontologist. He was awarded the 1858 Wollaston medal by the Geological Society of London. Life He was born at Frankfurt am Ma ...

in 1845.Meyer, H, (1845), Note on fossil reptiles: Neües Jahrbuch fur Mineralogie, Geologie und Palaontologie, 1845, p. 308-313. The genus was later synonymized with ''

Steneosaurus ''Steneosaurus'' (from el, στενός , 'narrow' and el, σαῦρος , 'lizard') is a dubious genus of teleosaurid crocodyliform from the Middle or Late Jurassic ( Callovian or early Oxfordian) of France. The genus has been used as a w ...

'' by Steel (1973), but new work suggests it might be a distinct genus after all.Foffa D, Johnson MM, Young MT, Steel L, Brusatte SL. 2019. Revision of the Late Jurassic deep-water teleosauroid crocodylomorph ''Teleosaurus megarhinus'' Hulke, 1871 and evidence of pelagic adaptations in Teleosauroidea. PeerJ 7:e6646 http://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6646 In 2020 the genus was formally revived. This simplified cladogram by Johnson ''et al.'' (2020) shows the updated location of ''Sericodon'' within Teleosauridae and Aeolodontinae:

References

Thalattosuchians Prehistoric pseudosuchian genera Prehistoric marine crocodylomorphs Late Jurassic crocodylomorphs Tithonian life Late Jurassic reptiles of Europe Fossil taxa described in 1845 {{paleo-archosaur-stub

Taxonomy

See also

References