Eotomistoma is a dubious genus of crocodyliform from the Lower Cretaceous of China.

Eotomistoma
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, ~120–110 Ma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Archosauria
Clade: Pseudosuchia
Clade: Crocodylomorpha
Clade: Crocodyliformes
Genus: Eotomistoma
Young, 1964
Type species
Eotomistoma multidentata
Young, 1964

History

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Eotomistoma was named by Chung-Chien Young in 1964 based on two pieces of the snout.[1] Young assigned it to the Tomistominae. However, other researchers, such as Eric Buffetaut, were skeptical of Young's interpretation, and in 1981 Denise Sigogneau-Russell re-studied it and determined the specimen was a chimera of a crocodylian and a choristodere.[2] Sigogneau-Russell named the choristodere fossil Ikechosaurus. The remaining snout fragment, still the holotype of Eotomistoma, is now considered to be an indeterminate crocodyliform.[3]

Paleoecology

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Eotomistoma is known from the Lower Cretaceous Luohandong Formation. It was a contemporary of the choristodere Ikechosaurus and the crocodyliforms Theriosuchus and Shantungosuchus.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Young, C.-C. (1964). "New fossil crocodiles from China" (PDF). Vertebrata PalAsiatica (in Chinese (China) and English). 8 (2): 189–208.
  2. ^ Sigogneau-Russell, D. (1981). "Présence d'un nouveau Champsosauridé dans le Crétacé supérieur de Chine". Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences de Paris. 292: 1–4.
  3. ^ a b Wu, X.-C.; Sues, H.-D.; Brinkman, D. B. (1996). "An atoposaurid neosuchian (Archosauria: Crocodyliformes) from the Lower Cretaceous of Inner Mongolia (People's Republic of China)". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 33 (4): 599–605. Bibcode:1996CaJES..33..599W. doi:10.1139/e96-044.