Melitosaurus

Melitosaurus
Temporal range: Miocene, 23.03–20.43 Ma
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Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Archosauromorpha
Clade: Archosauriformes
Order: Crocodilia
Family: Gavialidae
Subfamily: Tomistominae
Genus: †Melitosaurus
Owen, 1850
Species
  • †Melitosaurus champsoides Owen, 1850 (type)

Melitosaurus is an extinct genus of gavialid crocodylian discovered in Gozo, Malta in Early Miocene Aquitanian stage marine limestone rock in 1850.[1] It is related to the extant (living) False gharial and a member of the same subfamily Tomistominae, as shown in the cladogram below:[2]

Crocodyloidea

Gavialoidea
Gavialidae

†Tomistoma cairense

†Tomistoma coppensi

†Maomingosuchus petrolica

Tomistominae
Gavialinae

References

  1. ^ "Melitosaurus champsoides". Fossilworks. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  2. ^ Iijima M, Qiao Y, Lin W, Peng Y, Yoneda M, Liu J (2022). "An intermediate crocodylian linking two extant gharials from the Bronze Age of China and its human-induced extinction". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 289 (1970): Article ID 20220085. doi:10.1098/rspb.2022.0085. PMC 8905159.