View source for Litargosuchus

{{short description|Extinct genus of reptiles from the early Jurassic of South Africa}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = [[Early Jurassic]]
| image = Litargosuchus leptorhynchus.jpg
| image_caption = Life restoration of ''Litargosuchus leptorhynchus''
| taxon = Litargosuchus
| authority = Clark and Sues [[2002 in paleontology|2002]]
| type_species = {{extinct}}'''''L. leptorhynchus'''''
| type_species_authority = Clark and Sues 2002
}}

'''''Litargosuchus''''' is a [[sphenosuchia]]n [[Crocodylomorpha|crocodylomorph]], a [[Basal (phylogenetics)|basal]] member of the [[Crocodylomorpha|crocodylomorph]] [[clade]] from the Early [[Jurassic]] of [[South Africa]]. Its [[genus]] name ''Litargosuchus'' is derived from Greek meaning "fast running crocodile" and its species name ''leptorhynchus'' refers to its [[Gracility|gracile]] [[snout]]. ''Litargosuchus'', along with all of South Africa's [[Crocodylomorpha|crocodylomorph]] [[Taxon|taxa]], are confined to the upper [[Elliot Formation]] (UEF) in [[South Africa]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brusatte |first1=Stephen L. |last2=Benton |first2=Michael J. |last3=Lloyd |first3=Graeme T. |last4=Ruta |first4=Marcello |last5=Wang |first5=Steve C. |title=Macroevolutionary patterns in the evolutionary radiation of archosaurs (Tetrapoda: Diapsida) |journal=Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh |date=2010 |volume=101 |issue=3–4 |pages=367–382 |doi=10.1017/S1755691011020056 |bibcode=2010EESTR.101..367B |hdl=20.500.11820/f20f7461-d1c5-45b4-98e5-537bd1499512 |s2cid=15027613 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259408664 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brusatte |first1=Stephen L. |last2=Benton |first2=Michael J. |last3=Desojo |first3=Julia B. |last4=Langer |first4=Max C. |title=The higher-level phylogeny of Archosauria (Tetrapoda: Diapsida) |journal=Journal of Systematic Palaeontology |date=2010 |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=3–47 |doi=10.1080/14772010903537732 |bibcode=2010JSPal...8....3B |s2cid=59148006|hdl=20.500.11820/24322ff3-e80e-45f2-8d53-d35fd104195c |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Norell|first1=Mark A.|last2=Yi|first2=Hong-yu|last3=Montanari|first3=Shaena|last4=Brusatte|first4=Stephen L.|date=2011-02-01|title=Phylogenetic corrections for morphological disparity analysis: new methodology and case studies |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/paleobiol/article-abstract/37/1/1/86524/phylogenetic-corrections-for-morphological |journal=Paleobiology |language=en |volume=37 |issue=1|pages=1–22|doi=10.1666/09057.1|s2cid=56434400 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==History of discovery==

In 1988 [[James Kitching]] found the [[holotype]] [[fossil]] of ''Litargosuchus'' in a field expedition in Eagles Crag, a farm near [[Barkly East]] in the [[Eastern Cape]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dollman |first1=K. N. |last2=Viglietti |first2=P. A. |last3=Choiniere |first3=J. N. |title=A new specimen of ''Orthosuchus stormbergi'' (Nash 1968) and a review of the distribution of Southern African Lower Jurassic crocodylomorphs |journal=Historical Biology |date=2019 |volume=31 |issue=5 |pages=653–664 |doi=10.1080/08912963.2017.1387110 |bibcode=2019HBio...31..653D |s2cid=134134524 }}</ref> The material recovered consisted of a near-complete skull with its [[mandible]] and several bones belonging to the [[postcrania]]l skeleton. At the time, [[James Kitching|Kitching]] was the director of the [[Evolutionary Studies Institute]] (previously the Bernard Price Institute) of the [[University of the Witwatersrand]] in [[Johannesburg]]. [[James Kitching|Kitching]] brought the [[holotype]] [[fossil]] back to the institute where he described it with fellow researcher, Christopher Gow.<ref>Gow, C.E. and Kitching, J.W., 1988. Early Jurassic crocodilomorphs from the Stormberg of South Africa. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Monatshefte, 1988, pp.517-536.<br /></ref> Together [[James Kitching|Kitching]] and Gow misidentified this new species of [[sphenosuchia]]n [[Crocodylomorpha|crocodylomorph]] and assigned the fossils to an existing crocodylomorph species, ''[[Pedeticosaurus|Pedeticosaurus leviseuri]]''. Over a decade later in 2002, two researchers visiting from abroad, Jim Clark and Hans-Dieter Sues, re-described the [[fossil]]s. After their analysis, Clark and Sues discovered that the fossils belonged to a new species of [[sphenosuchia]]n [[Crocodylomorpha|crocodylomorph]] and coined the current name for the [[species]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Clark|first1=James M.|last2=Sues|first2=Hans-Dieter|date=2002-09-01|title=Two new basal crocodylomorph archosaurs from the Lower Jurassic and the monophyly of the Sphenosuchia|journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society|language=en|volume=136|issue=1|pages=77–95|doi=10.1046/j.1096-3642.2002.00026.x |doi-access=free}}</ref> The ''Litargosuchus'' [[fossil]] is [[Monotypic taxon|monotypic]] and is the only known [[fossil]] of this [[species]] that has been found to date.

[[File:Barkly East, South Africa - panoramio (1).jpg|thumb|350 px| Landscape outside Barkly East, Eastern Cape, South Africa]]

The skull material of the ''Litargosuchus'' [[holotype]] was lost and no new [[fossil]]s have yet been yielded from the [[Elliot Formation]]. However, new ''Litargosuchus'' fossils may be found in the future. A dedicated research lab based at the [[Evolutionary Studies Institute]] has led several field expeditions to localities where [[Elliot Formation]] rocks are exposed with the hope of finding more [[fossil]] material. Jonah Choiniere, an old PhD student of Clark, leads this research lab. The remains of the [[holotype]] currently remain stored at the [[Evolutionary Studies Institute]].

==Description==
''Litargosuchus'' was a small, [[Gracility|gracile]] non-[[Crocodyliformes|crocodyliform]] [[Sphenosuchia|spheosuchid]] [[Crocodylomorpha|crocodylomorph]] restricted to the [[Sinemurian]] of the lower [[Jurassic]]. Unlike modern [[crocodile]]s, ''Litargosuchus'' was a [[cursorial]], [[Terrestrial animal|terrestrial]] [[Predation|predator]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Parrish|first=J. Michael|date=1987|title=The origin of crocodilian locomotion|journal=Paleobiology|language=en|volume=13|issue=4|pages=396–414|doi=10.1017/S0094837300009003 |bibcode=1987Pbio...13..396P |s2cid=85804935 |url=https://doc.rero.ch/record/16737/files/PAL_E3569.pdf }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Parrish |first1=J. Michael |title=A new specimen of an early crocodylomorph (cf. ''Sphenosuchus'' sp.) from the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation of Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |date=1991 |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=198–212 |doi=10.1080/02724634.1991.10011387|bibcode=1991JVPal..11..198P }}</ref> It had unusually elongated limbs with its hind limbs slightly longer than its front. All [[sphenosuchia]]n [[Crocodylomorpha|crocodylomorphs]] were lightly built, but ''Litargosuchus'' was especially so. It is thought that ''Litargosuchus'' pursued its prey much like a [[wolf]]; however, ''Litargosuchus'' were likely [[Solitary animal|solitary]].<ref>Randall, B., Sterling, J. and Sues, H.D., 2013. Early Crocodylomorpha. Anatomy, Phylogeny and Palaeobiology of Early Archosaurs and Their Kin, (379), p.275.</ref> A [[cursorial]] body type is a key character trait of sphenosuchid crocodylomorphs.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Zanno|first1=Lindsay E.|last2=Drymala|first2=Susan M.|date=2016-06-15|title=Osteology of ''Carnufex carolinensis'' (Archosauria: Psuedosuchia) from the Pekin Formation of North Carolina and Its Implications for Early Crocodylomorph Evolution|journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=11 |issue=6 |page=e0157528 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0157528 |pmc=4909254 |pmid=27304665 |bibcode=2016PLoSO..1157528D |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|author-link1=Richard J. Butler|last1=Butler|first1=Richard J.|last2=Sullivan|first2=Corwin|last3=Ezcurra|first3=Martín D.|last4=Liu|first4=Jun|last5=Lecuona|first5=Agustina|last6=Sookias|first6=Roland B.|date=2014-06-10|title=New clade of enigmatic early archosaurs yields insights into early pseudosuchian phylogeny and the biogeography of the archosaur radiation |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology|volume=14|issue=1|page=128|doi=10.1186/1471-2148-14-128 |pmc=4061117|pmid=24916124 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2014BMCEE..14..128B }}</ref>

==Specimens==
The holotype specimen, BP/1/5237 is the only documented ''Litargosuchus'' specimen recovered to date.

==Classification==
:''See [[Sphenosuchia]] for details on sphenosuchian phylogeny''

''Litargosuchus'' is currently positioned within [[Sphenosuchia|Sphenosuchidae]], a [[Basal (phylogenetics)|basal]] [[clade]] of non-[[Crocodyliformes|crocodyliform]] [[Crocodylomorpha|crocodylomorphs]]. However, [[Phylogenetics|phylogenetic]] relationships within the [[Sphenosuchia]] are poorly understood so its status within this [[clade]] is uncertain. In addition, only one specimen of ''Litargosuchus'' is known to science, which means that there is no other comparative fossil data with members of its own species. However, it is accepted as a member of the greater crown [[archosaur]] [[clade]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Pseudosuchia|L.}}
{{Geology of South Africa|paleontology}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q6647417}}

[[Category:Terrestrial crocodylomorphs]]
[[Category:Prehistoric pseudosuchian genera]]
[[Category:Early Jurassic crocodylomorphs]]
[[Category:Jurassic reptiles of Africa]]
[[Category:Jurassic South Africa]]
[[Category:Fossils of South Africa]]
[[Category:Fossil taxa described in 2002]]