Melitosaurus is an extinct genus of gavialid crocodylian discovered in Gozo, Malta in Early Miocene Aquitanian stage marine limestone rock in 1850.[1] It is related to the extant (living) False gharial and a member of the same subfamily Tomistominae, as shown in the cladogram below:[2]
Melitosaurus Temporal range: Miocene,
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Clade: | Archosauromorpha |
Clade: | Archosauriformes |
Order: | Crocodilia |
Family: | Gavialidae |
Subfamily: | Tomistominae |
Genus: | †Melitosaurus Owen, 1850 |
Species | |
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References
edit- ^ "Melitosaurus champsoides". Fossilworks. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
- ^ Iijima M, Qiao Y, Lin W, Peng Y, Yoneda M, Liu J (2022). "An intermediate crocodylian linking two extant gharials from the Bronze Age of China and its human-induced extinction". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 289 (1970): Article ID 20220085. doi:10.1098/rspb.2022.0085. PMC 8905159.