Tanystrosuchus

Tanystrosuchus; Temporal range: Norian; ~208 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	Theropoda
Genus:	†Tanystrosuchus; Kuhn, 1963
Species:	†T. posthumus
Binomial name
	†Tanystrosuchus posthumus; (Huene, 1908)
Synonyms
	Tanystropheus posthumus ; Huene, 1908; Coelophysis posthumus ; (Huene, 1908);

Tanystrosuchus (meaning "long crocodile") is a dubious genus of theropod dinosaur from the late Triassic period (middle Norian stage, around 208 million years ago). It is known from a single fossil neck vertebra of the species T. posthumus, found in the Middle Stubensandstein formation of what is present-day Germany.

History

The vertebra used to name Tanystrosuchus (specimen SMNS 4385) was originally found by S.F.J. von Kapff in the 1860s. Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer described the vertebra in 1865, but did not attempt to classify it. In 1907, Friedrich von Huene examined the fossil and recognized it as part of a theropod dinosaur. He thought it probably belonged to the genus Tanystropheus (thought to be a theropod at the time), and named a new species for it, Tanystropheus posthumus.^[2] The vertebra was added to the collections of the Staatliches Museum for Naturkunde in Stuttgart, but was labelled as a specimen of the phytosaurid Nicrosaurus. In 2000, Oliver Rauhut and Axel Hungerbühler re-examined the specimen and concluded that, while it was similar in some respects to the same bone in the contemporary Liliensternus, and was definitely from a theropod, it could not be classified due to its incomplete nature. Tanystrosuchus is considered to be a nomen dubium for that reason.^[3]

References

^ Olshevsky, G. (1991). "A revision of the parainfraclass Archosauria Cope, 1869, excluding the advanced Crocodylia" (PDF). Mesozoic Meanderings 2. San Diego: 196.
^ F. von Huene, Die Dinosaurier der Europäischen Triasformation mit berücksichtigung der Ausseuropäischen vorkommnisse [The dinosaurs of the European Triassic formations with consideration of occurrences outside Europe, Geologische und Palaeontologische Abhandlungen Suppl. 1(1), 1908, p. 1-419]
^ Rauhut, O.M.W. & Hungerbühler, A. (2000) "A review of European Triassic theropods." Gaia, 15: 75-88.

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[Olshevsky1991-1] Olshevsky, G. (1991). "A revision of the parainfraclass Archosauria Cope, 1869, excluding the advanced Crocodylia" (PDF). Mesozoic Meanderings 2. San Diego: 196.

[2] F. von Huene, Die Dinosaurier der Europäischen Triasformation mit berücksichtigung der Ausseuropäischen vorkommnisse [The dinosaurs of the European Triassic formations with consideration of occurrences outside Europe, Geologische und Palaeontologische Abhandlungen Suppl. 1(1), 1908, p. 1-419]

[rauhut00-3] Rauhut, O.M.W. & Hungerbühler, A. (2000) "A review of European Triassic theropods." Gaia, 15: 75-88.

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