Suchodus is an extinct genus of metriorhynchid thalattosuchian from the Middle to Late Jurassic period of England and France It was a fully marine reptile that would have fed on other large marine fauna.
Taxonomy and phylogeny
Suchodus was originally described by Richard Lydekker in 1890, based on a flattened front part of a lower jaw (NHMUK PV R 1994) collected from the Oxford Clay near Peterborough, with the type species being S. durobrivensis.Lydekker R. 1890. On a crocodilian jaw from the Oxford Clay of Peterborough. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society 46: 284–288
. Remains of this species have also been reported from the Marnes de Dives of Normandy in Northern France.Lepage Y, Buffetaut E, Hua S, Martin JE, Tabouelle J. 2008. Catalogue descriptif, anatomique, géologique et historique des fossiles présentés à l’exposition « Les Crocodiliens fossiles de Normandie » (6 novembre–14 decembre 2008). Bulletin de la Société Géologique de Normandie et des Amis du Muséum du Havre 95: 5–152. The genus was regarded as a junior synonym of Metriorhynchus by Andrews, 1913.Andrews C. W. (1913). A descriptive catalogue of the marine reptiles of the Oxford Clay, Part Two. London: British Museum (Natural History), 206 pp. Later studies from the 2000s onwards questioned this synonymy.Young, Mark T., and Marco Brandalise de Andrade, 2009. "What is Geosaurus? Redescription of Geosaurus giganteus (Thalattosuchia: Metriorhynchidae) from the Upper Jurassic of Bayern, Germany." Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 157: 551-585.Young, Mark T., Brusatte, Stephen L., Ruta, M., Andrade, Marco B. 2009. "The evolution of Metriorhynchoidea (Mesoeucrocodylia, Thalattosuchia): an integrated approach using geometrics morphometrics, analysis of disparity and biomechanics". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 158: 801-859. Some authors have also included the species "S." brachyrhynchus, originally described for a specimen from the Callovian of Mesnil Bavent, Normandy, within the genus. Its placement in Suchodus has been questioned, and it has otherwise assigned to the genus Metriorhynchus or argued that it should be placed in its own new genus.
Classification
Suchodus is a member of the metriorhynchid subfamily called Geosaurinae and the derived tribe Geosaurini. Members were generally large marine predators, adapted to open-ocean life with streamlined bodies, powerful tails, and long, robust jaws lined with sharp teeth. Suchodus is most closely related to the genus Plesiosuchus, both forming the group Plesiosuchina.
The cladogram below is from an analysis by Léa Girard and colleagues in their description of Torvoneustes jurensis.
References