Aggiosaurus
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Extinct (fossil)
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Aggiosaurus is a genus of marine crocodyliform from the Late Jurassic period of the Oxfordian stage, around 155 to 160 million years ago. Aggiosaurus was a carnivore that spent much, if not all, its life out at sea. No Aggiosaurus 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 plesiosaurs or ichthyosaurs which are known to give birth to live young out at sea. Where Aggiosaurus mated, whether on land or at sea, is currently unknown.
[edit] History of discovery
There is only a single described species within Aggiosaurus, the type species A. nicaensis. The type species, and only species, was named in 1913 by Ambayrac, who mistakenly classified it as a megalosaurid. Buffetaut in 1982 demonstrated that it was in fact a metriorhynchid, closely related to, if not a member of Dakosaurus. As the type specimen is poorly preserved it is considered nomen dubium. Aggiosaurus has been considered a junior synonym of the theropod dinosaur Megalosaurus (which has been demonstrated as a mistake) and of Dakosaurus, though due the holotypes poor state of preservation this cannot be determined.
[edit] Closely related species
Other genera included in this family are: Metriorhynchus, Teleidosaurus, Geosaurus, Dakosaurus and Enaliosuchus. The other genus within Metiorhynchidae considered nomen dubium is Neustosaurus.
[edit] References
- Buffetaut, E. (1982). Aggiosaurus nicaeensis Ambayrac, 1913, from the Upper Jurassic of south-eastern France: A marine crocodilian, not a dinosaur. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Monatshefte (8): 469-475
