Goniopholis

Filozoa

Goniopholis Temporal range: Late Jurassic - Early Cretaceous, 161–100 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Goniopholis simus from the Early Cretaceous of Germany
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Superorder:	Crocodylomorpha
Family:	†Goniopholididae
Genus:	†Goniopholis Owen, 1841
Species
† G. crassidens Owen, 1841 (type) †G. simus Owen, 1878 †G. baryglyphaeus Schwarz, 2003 †G. lucasii (Cope, 1878) †G. stovalli Mook, 1964 †G. gilmorei Holland, 1905 †G. gracilidens (Owen, 1879), Salisbury, 2002 †G. phuwiangensis Buffetaut & Ingavat, 1983

Goniopholis is an extinct genus of crocodyliform that lived in North America, Europe and Asia during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. Being semi-aquatic it is very similar to modern crocodiles. It ranged from 2–4 metres in length, and would have had a very similar lifestyle to the American alligator or Nile crocodile. Goniopholis was closely related to the ancestor of extant crocodilians.

Goniopholis skeleton on a Stegosaurus skeleton

A Goniopholis skull at the Sam Noble Museum. Found in Oklahoma.

Skeleton of Goniopholis simus as found at the Iguanodon site in Bernissart.

Many species of Goniopholis have been described, G. crassidens lived during the Early Cretaceous (Berriasian) of England. Goniopholis simus is from the Early Cretaceous of NW Germany; G. gilmorei and G. stovalli are from the Late Jurassic of North America, while G. baryglyphaeus is known from the Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) of Portugal making it the oldest known Goniopholis species. Other Late Jurassic species such as, G. phuwiangensis is known from NE Thailand, and G. lucasii from the Tithonian of Colorado (although may belong to a different genus, Amphicotylus). Nannosuchus gracilidens from the Early Cretaceous of England is a juvenile Goniopholis.

References

• Buffetaut, E; Ingavat, R (1983). "Goniopholis phuwiangensis nov. sp., a new mesosuchian crocodile from the Mesozoic of North-eastern Thailand". Geobios 16 (1): 79–91. doi:10.1016/S0016-6995(83)80048-5. 

• Holland, W. J. (1905). "A new crocodile from the Jurassic of Wyoming". Annals of the Carnegie Museum 3 (3): 431–434. ISSN 0097-4463. 

• Mook, C. C. (1964). "New species of Goniopholis from the Morrison of Oklahoma". Oklahoma Geology Notes 24: 283–287. ISSN 0030-1736. 

• Owen, R. 1878. Monograph on The Fossil Reptilia of the Wealden and Purbeck Formations, Supplement no. VII. Crocodilia (Goniopholis, Pterosuchus, and Suchosaurus). Palaeontological Society Monograph, p. 1-15.

• Owen, R. (1879). "On the Association of dwarf crocodiles (Nanosuchus and Theriosuchus pusilus, e. g.) with the diminutive mammals of the Purbeck Shales". Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 35: 148–155. doi:10.1144/GSL.JGS.1879.035.01-04.02. 

• Salisbury, S. W., Willis, P. M. A., Peitz, S. & Sander, P. M. (December 1999). "The crocodilian Goniopholis simus from the Lower Cretaceous of north-western Germany". Special Papers in Palaeontology 60: 121–148. ISBN 9780901702678. 

• Schwarz, Daniela (2002). "A new species of Goniopholis from the Upper Jurassic of Portugal". Palaeontology 45 (1): 185–208. doi:10.1111/1475-4983.00233. 

External links

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