Koumpiodontosuchus

Koumpiodontosuchus
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous
Holotype skull
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Superorder: Crocodylomorpha
Family: †Bernissartiidae
Genus: †Koumpiodontosuchus
Type species
†Koumpiodontosuchus aprosdokiti

Koumpiodontosuchus is an extinct genus of neosuchian crocodyliform that lived in the Early Cretaceous. The only species is K. aprosdokiti.[1]

Discovery

Restoration

The first fossilised fragment of a skull was discovered by Diane Trevarthen on a beach near Sandown in the Isle of Wight in March 2011. Three months later, the second fragment of the skull was found by Austin and Finley Nathan. The two fragments were donated to Dinosaur Isle.[2] The species that the fragments belonged to was named Koumpiodontosuchus aprosdokiti, meaning "unexpected button-toothed crocodile".[3][4]

When the fragments were first seen by Steve Sweetman, a palaeontologist with the University of Portsmouth, he thought that they belonged to the Bernissartia fagesii species because of its small size and button-shaped teeth.[3] Sweetman published a paper on the discovery of the new species in Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.[5][6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Sweetman, S.; Pedreira-Segade, U.; Vidovic, S. (2014). "A new bernissartiid crocodyliform from the Lower Cretaceous Wessex Formation (Wealden Group, Barremian) of the Isle of Wight, southern England". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. doi:10.4202/app.00038.2013.
  2. ↑ "This crocodile roamed earth with dinosaurs!". Business Standard. 11 March 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Skull fragments reveal new ancient crocodile species". BBC News. 11 March 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  4. ↑ Osbourne, Hannah (11 March 2014). "Tiny Button-Toothed Crocodile Species From 126 Million Years Ago Discovered on Isle of Wight". International Business Times. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  5. ↑ "Tiny crocodile skull reveals new ancient species". University of Portsmouth. 11 March 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  6. ↑ "A new species of tiny crocodile that lived 126 million years ago has been discovered, from fossils found on the Isle Of Wight.". Capital FM. 11 March 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
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