Compsosuchus

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Compsosuchus
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 69–66 Ma
Vertebra
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Genus: Compsosuchus
Matley & Huene, 1933
Species:
C. solus
Binomial name
Compsosuchus solus
Matley & Huene, 1933

Compsosuchus (meaning "elegant crocodile") is a dubious genus of abelisauroid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Lameta Formation of India.

Discovery and naming[edit]

Compsosuchus was described in 1933 by von Huene and Matley based on remains discovered between 1917 and 1919.[1] The type species is C. solus, and the type and only specimen is GSI K27/578, an axis with an articulated axial intersection. The genus is often considered a nomen dubium.[2]

Classification[edit]

Although classified as an allosaurid by Huene and Matley (1933) and Molnar et al. (1990) because of superficial similarities with the axis vertebrae of Allosaurus, a 2004 review of Lameta Formation theropods found it to be similar to members of the Abelisauridae, including Carnotaurus and Indosaurus, necessitating the placement of Compsosuchus as an abelisaurid.[3][4] While a 2011 study classified Compsosuchus as a noasaurid,[5] a 2024 study identified it as an indeterminate abelisaurid.[6]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ F. v. Huene and C. A. Matley, (1933), "The Cretaceous Saurischia and Ornithischia of the Central Provinces of India", Palaeontologica Indica (New Series), Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India 21(1): 1-74
  2. ^ "Compsosuchus". Dinosaurier-Info.De. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  3. ^ Novas, Fernando; Agnolin, Federico; Bandyopadhyay, Saswati (2004). "Cretaceous theropods from India: A review of specimens described by Huene and Matley (1933)". Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales: 67–103. doi:10.22179/revmacn.6.74. ISSN 1514-5158.
  4. ^ Molnar, Kurzanov and Dong, 1990. Carnosauria. In Weishampel, Dodson and Osmolska (eds.). The Dinosauria. University of California Press. 169-209.
  5. ^ Carrano, Matthew T.; Loewen, Mark A.; Sertich, Joseph J. W. (2011). "New materials of Masiakasaurus knopfleri Sampson, Carrano, and Forster, 2001, and implications for the morphology of the Noasauridae (Theropoda:Ceratosauria)". Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology (95): 1–53. doi:10.5479/si.00810266.95.1. ISSN 0081-0266.
  6. ^ Mohabey, D. M.; Samant, B.; Vélez-Rosado, K. I.; Wilson Mantilla, J. A. (2024). "A review of small-bodied theropod dinosaurs from the Upper Cretaceous of India, with description of new cranial remains of a noasaurid (Theropoda: Abelisauria)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. e2288088. doi:10.1080/02724634.2023.2288088.