Metriorhynchinae

Metriorhynchines Temporal range: Callovian–Valanginian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Thalattosuchus superciliosus skeleton, Senckenberg Museum of Frankfurt
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Archosauria
Clade:	Pseudosuchia
Clade:	Crocodylomorpha
Clade:	Crocodyliformes
Suborder:	†Thalattosuchia
Family:	†Metriorhynchidae
Subfamily:	†Metriorhynchinae Fitzinger, 1843
Genera
†Thalattosuchus †Gracilineustes †Metriorhynchus †Rhacheosaurini Young et al. 2011 †Cricosaurus †Maledictosuchus †Rhacheosaurus

Metriorhynchinae is a subfamily of metriorhynchid crocodyliforms from the late Middle Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous (Callovian - Valanginian) of Europe, North America and South America.^[1][2] Named by Fitzinger, in 1843, it contains the metriorhynchids Gracilineustes, Metriorhynchus, Maledictosuchus, Cricosaurus and Rhacheosaurus. The last three taxa form a tribe within Metriorhynchinae, the Rhacheosaurini. Metriorhynchinae is one of two subfamilies of Metriorhynchidae, the other being Geosaurinae.^[3]

Phylogeny

Metriorhynchinae is a node-based taxon defined in the PhyloCode by Mark T. Young and colleagues in 2024 as "the smallest clade within Metriorhynchidae containing Rhacheosaurus gracilis, Metriorhynchus brevirostris, and Gracilineustes leedsi".^[4] Rhacheosaurini is a stem-based taxon and it was named Mark T. Young, Mark A. Bell and Stephen L. Brusatte in 2011 and defined in the PhyloCode by Mark T. Young and colleagues in 2024 as "the largest clade within Metriorhynchidae containing Rhacheosaurus gracilis, but not Metriorhynchus brevirostris and Gracilineustes leedsi.^[3][4] The cladogram below follows the topology from the analyses by Young, et al. 2020.^[5][6]

Metriorhynchinae

Thalattosuchus superciliosus Gracilineustes acutus Gracilineustes leedsi Maledictosuchus riclaensis Maledictosuchus nuyivijanan Metriorhynchus geoffroyii  Rhacheosaurini  Metriorhynchus palpebrosus Cricosaurus saltillensis Swiss rhacheosaurin cf. Cricosaurus macrospondylus Metriorhynchinae indet. (USNM 19640) Rhacheosaurus gracilis cf. Cricosaurus sp. Cricosaurus araucanensis Cricosaurus lithographicus Cricosaurus schroederi Cricosaurus vignaudi Cricosaurus bambergensis Cricosaurus suevicus Cricosaurus elegans Solnhofen Cricosaurus (C. rauhuti)

References

1. Andrea Cau; Federico Fanti (2011). "The oldest known metriorhynchid crocodylian from the Middle Jurassic of North-eastern Italy: Neptunidraco ammoniticus gen. et sp. nov". Gondwana Research. 19 (2): 550–565. Bibcode:2011GondR..19..550C. doi:10.1016/j.gr.2010.07.007.
2. Mark T. Young; Stephen L. Brusatte; Marcello Ruta; Marco Brandalise de Andrade (2010). "The evolution of Metriorhynchoidea (Mesoeucrocodylia, Thalattosuchia): an integrated approach using geometrics morphometrics, analysis of disparity and biomechanics". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 158 (4): 801–859. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00571.x.
3. Mark T. Young; Mark A. Bell; Stephen L. Brusatte (2011). "Craniofacial form and function in Metriorhynchidae (Crocodylomorpha: Thalattosuchia): modelling phenotypic evolution with maximum-likelihood methods". Biology Letters. 7 (6): 913–916. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2011.0357. PMC 3210659. PMID 21543396.
4. Young, Mark T.; Wilberg, Eric W.; Johnson, Michela M.; Herrera, Yanina; De Andrade, Marco Brandalise; Brignon, Arnaud; Sachs, Sven; Abel, Pascal; Foffa, Davide; Fernández, Marta S.; Vignaud, Patrick; Cowgill, Thomas; Brusatte, Stephen L. (2024). "The history, systematics, and nomenclature of Thalattosuchia (Archosauria: Crocodylomorpha)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 200 (2): 547–617. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad165.
5. Young MT, Sachs S, Abel P, Foffa D, Herrera Y, Kitson JJ (2020). "Convergent evolution and possible constraint in the posterodorsal retraction of the external nares in pelagic crocodylomorphs". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 189 (2): 494–520. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa021. hdl:11336/137182.
6. Young, M.T., Brignon, A., Sachs, S., Hornung J.J., Foffa, D., Kitson, J.J.N., Johnson, M.M., and Steel, L. 2020. Cutting the Gordian knot: a historical and taxonomic revision of the Jurassic crocodylomorph Metriorhynchus. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, zlaa092. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa092.