Mystriosuchus

Etymology: Spoon-crocodile 

Collected  Species: Mystriosuchus planirostris (Gozzi and Renesto 2003)

Systematic  Palaeontology: Archosauromorpha; Archosauria; Crurotarsi; Crocodylotarsi; Phytosauria;

Distribution: Upper strata of the Calcari di Zorzino (Norian Age)

Locality: Endenna (Bergamo Lombardy, Northern Italy)

Repository: Museo Civico di Scienze Naturali "Caffi" di Bergamo; Museo Brembano di Scienze Naturali, S. Pellegrino

A complete and nearly articulated new phytosaur specimenhas been found in 1995. The skeleton, about 4 metres long, has been collected from the uppermost level of the Calcare di Zorzino (Norian, Upper Triassic) in the small quarry of Endenna (Bergamo, Northern Italy). Available characters of the skull allow assignment of this long snouted, uncrested phytosaur to Mystriosuchus planirostris Von Meyer 1863. The postcranial anatomy, detailed here for the first time for this species, suggests a stronger adaptation to aquatic life in Mystriosuchus than in other phytosaurs, and may increase available data to improve our knowledge of the systematic relationships among phytosaurs. The discovery of this nearly complete skeleton in a marine intraplatform basin suggests that a short post-mortem transport of the carcass occurred and thus this phytosaur may have lived whether in a fresh water environment or in a shallow marine habitat, close to emerged lands.

Click here to see additional photos and drawings of the specimen

Artwork by S. Renesto unless otherwise indicated. Please do not reproduce/repost/republish etc. any text or image without asking permission to the author

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