Thalattosuchia is a
clade of mostly marine
crocodylomorphs from the
Early Jurassic to the
Early Cretaceous that had a
cosmopolitan distribution.[3] They are colloquially referred to as marine crocodiles or sea crocodiles, though they are not members of
Crocodilia and records from Thailand and China suggest that some members lived in freshwater.[4] The clade contains two major subgroupings, the
Teleosauroidea and
Metriorhynchoidea. Teleosauroids are not greatly specialised for oceanic life, with back
osteoderms similar to other crocodyliformes. Within Metriorhynchoidea, the
Metriorhynchidae displayed extreme adaptions for life in the open ocean, including the transformation of limbs into flippers, the development of a
tail fluke, and smooth, scaleless skin,[5] and probably gave
live birth, seemingly uniquely among archosaurs.[6]
The term Thalattosuchia was coined by Fraas in 1901.[1] Various authors considered Thalattosuchia an infraorder or a suborder within "
Mesosuchia". However, the term "Mesosuchia" is a
paraphyletic group, and as such is no longer used. For consistency, the Thalattosuchia are here placed at suborder rank, although the order that contains it is unnamed. The exact phylogenetic position of Thalattosuchia is uncertain, with them either being interpreted as members of
Neosuchia alongside other aquatic crocodylomorphs, or more basal members of Crocodylomorpha, with the similarities to neosuchians being as a result of
convergent evolution.[7] The group consists of two major subgroupings,
Teleosauroidea (containing the families
Machimosauridae and
Teleosauridae), and
Metriorhynchoidea (containing
Metriorhynchidae and some more basal taxa).[8][9]
Evolutionary history
Indeterminate remains possibly belonging to thalattosuchians have been reported from the Early Jurassic (
Sinemurian) of Chile and France. However, they cannot be assigned to the group with confidence as they lack diagnostic characters.[9] In 2023 a basal teleosauroid was reported from the earliest Jurassic (Hettangian-Sinemurian) of Morocco, representing one of the oldest known thalattosuchians.[10]Turnersuchus from the
Pliensbachian of England appears to be
basal to both Teleosauroidea and Metriorhynchoidea.[9] While abundant during the Jurassic, their fossil record during the Early Cretaceous is scarce, and generally confined to low latitudes. The latest records of the group date to the
Aptian.[11][12] Some members of Teleosauridae have been discovered in non-marine deposits.[4]
^
abFraas E. 1901. Die Meerkrokodile (Thalattosuchia n. g.) eine neue Sauriergruppe der Juraformation. Jahreshefte des Vereins für vaterländische Naturkunde, Württemberg57: 409-418.
^Young, Mark T.; Wilberg, Eric W.; Johnson, Michela M.; Herrera, Yanina; De Andrade, Marco Brandalise; Brignon, Arnaud; Sachs, Sven; Abel, Pascal; Foffa, Davide; Fernández, Marta S.; Vignaud, Patrick; Cowgill, Thomas; Brusatte, Stephen L. (2024). "The history, systematics, and nomenclature of Thalattosuchia (Archosauria: Crocodylomorpha)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
doi:
10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad165.
^Alfio A. Chiarenza; Davide Foffa; Mark T. Young; Gianni Insacco; Andrea Cau; Giorgio Carnevale; Rita Catanzariti (2015). "The youngest record of metriorhynchid crocodylomorphs, with implications for the extinction of Thalattosuchia". Cretaceous Research. 56: 608–616.
doi:
10.1016/j.cretres.2015.07.001.
hdl:2318/1537833.
^Chiarenza, Alfio A.; Foffa, Davide; Young, Mark T.; Insacco, Gianni; Cau, Andrea; Carnevale, Giorgio; Catanzariti, Rita (September 2015). "The youngest record of metriorhynchid crocodylomorphs, with implications for the extinction of Thalattosuchia". Cretaceous Research. 56: 608–616.
doi:
10.1016/j.cretres.2015.07.001.
hdl:2318/1537833.
Further reading
Fraas, E. (1902). "Die Meer-Krocodilier (Thalattosuchia) des oberen Jura unter specieller Berücksichtigung von Dacosaurus und Geosaurus". Paleontographica49: 1-72.
.jpg){kind=small}
