Laganosuchus

Laganosuchus
Temporal range: 95Ma
↓

Cenomanian

Lower jaws of L. thaumastos
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Infraclass: Archosauromorpha
(unranked): Crurotarsi
Superorder: Crocodylomorpha
Family: Stomatosuchidae
Genus: Laganosuchus
Sereno and Larsson, 2009
Species
  • L. thaumastos Sereno and Larsson, 2009 (type)
  • L. maghrebensis Sereno and Larsson, 2009

Laganosuchus is an extinct genus of stomatosuchid crocodyliform. Fossils have been found from Niger and Morocco and date back to the Upper Cretaceous.[1]

Discovery

The name means "pancake crocodile" from the Greek λαγανον, laganon ("pancake") and σοῦχος, souchos ("crocodile") in reference to the shallow depth of the skull, which is characteristic of all stomatosuchids. It has been nicknamed "PancakeCroc" by Paul Sereno and Hans Larsson, who first described the genus in a monograph published in ZooKeys in 2009 along with other Saharan crocodyliformes such as Anatosuchus and Kaprosuchus.[2]

The type species is L. thaumastos from the Cenomanian-age Echkar Formation in Niger. A second species, L. maghrebensis, is known from the Kem Kem Beds in Morocco, which are also Cenomanian in age.[3]

Paleobiology

Restoration of L. thaumastos

According to Sereno, L. thaumastos was an approximately 20 foot (6 m) long, squat fish-eater with a 3-foot (1 m) flat head.[2] It would have stayed motionless for hours, waiting for prey to swim into its open jaws with spike-shaped teeth.[2][4]

References

  1. ↑ Sereno, P. C.; Larsson, H. C. E. (2009). "Cretaceous crocodyliforms from the Sahara". ZooKeys 28 (2009): 1–143. doi:10.3897/zookeys.28.325.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Schmid, Randolph E. (November 19, 2009). "3 new ancient crocodile species fossils found". The Associated Press.
  3. ↑ Sereno, P. C.; Dutheil, D. B.; Iarochene, M.; Larsson, H. C. E.; Lyon, G. H.; Magwene, P. M.; Sidor, C. A.; Varricchio, D. J.; and Wilson, J. A. (1996). "Predatory dinosaurs from the Sahara and Late Cretaceous faunal differentiation". Science 272 (5264): 986–991. doi:10.1126/science.272.5264.986. PMID 8662584.
  4. ↑ Devlin, Hannah (November 20, 2009). "Meet Boar, Rat and Pancake: the ancient, giant crocodiles found in Sahara". Times Online.

External links