Litargosuchus leptorhynchus

This small and slender sphenosuchian shows adaptation for a cursorial habit. It is known from a single partial skeleton of a possible juvenile.

Name

Litargosuchus leptorhynchus

Authority

Clark & Sues, 2002

Meaning of generic name

From Greek litargos, running fast, and Greek soukhos, crocodile

Meaning of specific name

From Greek leptos, thin, delicate, and Greek rhynchos , snout, muzzle

Size

Skull length: , Length:

Remains

Holotype (BP/1/5237): skull, mandible and much of the postcranial skeleton, first identified as Pedeticosaurus sp. by Gow & Kitching (1988).

Age and Distribution

Horizon: Upper Elliot Formation (Stormberg Group). Early Jurassic

Locality: farm Eagles Crag, Barkley East, South Africa

Classification

Archosauromorpha Crurotarsi Paracrocodylomorpha Sphenosuchia Sphenosuchidae

Further Reading

Clark, J. M., and Sues, H.-D., 2002. Two new basal crocodylomorph archosaurs from the Lower Jurassic and the monophyly of the sphenosuchia: In: Archosaurian anatomy and palaeontology. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, v. 136, p. 77-95.

Synonyms

Pedeticosaurus sp. Gow & Kitching, 1988