Mesosuchus
Name:
Mesosuchus
(middle crocodile).
Phonetic: Me-so-soo-kus.
Named By: David Meredith Seares Watson - 1912.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Rhynchosauria.
Species: M. browni (type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: About 30 centimetres long.
Known locations: South Africa - Burgersdorp
Formation.
Time period: Anisian of the Triassic.
Fossil representation: Skull and partial skeletons.
Though the name means ‘crocodile’, Mesosuchus was actually one of the rhynchosaurs, a distinct group of archosaurs noted for having a herbivorous diet. Mesosuchus seems to be one of the more primitive forms with later relatives showing distinctly more developed adaptations for their lifestyles.
Further reading
- Mesosuchus browni, gen. et spe. Nov. -
Records of the
Albany Museum 2: 298–299. - David Meredith Seares Watson -
1912.
- The Early Triassic rhynchosaur Mesosuchus browni
and the
interrelationships of basal archosauromorph reptiles -.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B
353: 501–541 - David M. Dilkes - 1998.
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