Machimosaurus
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Machimosaurus Temporal range: 154–130 Ma Kimmeridgian - Hauterivian |
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| Machimosaurus sp. fossil | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Sauropsida |
| Infraclass: | Archosauromorpha |
| (unranked): | Mesoeucrocodylia |
| Suborder: | Thalattosuchia |
| Family: | Teleosauridae |
| Genus: |
Machimosaurus Von Meyer, 1837 |
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Machimosaurus is an extinct genus of teleosaurid crocodyliform from the Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian and Tithonian) and Early Cretaceous. The type species, Machimosaurus hugii, was found in Switzerland. Other fossils have been found in England, France, Germany, Portugal, Switzerland and Tunisia.Machimosaurus was not only both the largest teleosaurid and thalattosuchian, but with a length of 9.6 metres (skull length 155 cm), it was the largest crocodyliform of the Jurassic.
Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer in 1837 named isolated conical, blunt teeth with numerous longitudinal lines from Switzerland, Madrimosaurus hugii. However, in 1838, realising he had misspelled the name, he emended Madrimosaurus to Machimosaurus, from Greek makhimos 'fit or ready for war'. The teeth of Machimosaurus, with their rounded, blunt apex and stout morphology make them characteristic and easily identifiable compared to other teleosaurid teeth.
The type species, M. hugii, is known from the Kimmeridgian of Portugal, Spain, Tunisia and Switzerland.Machimosaurus ferox and M. interruptus were previously considered junior synonyms of M. hugii, but have been recently considered possible synonyms of Machimosaurus mosae.
Krebs (1967), considered M. mosae (Lienard, 1876) to be a junior synonym of M. hugii, but is considered a second valid species of the genus based on a nearly complete skeleton found from the late Kimmeridgian of France.
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