Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. This is the first record of the biggest Metriorhynchidae, aff. Plesiosuchus sp. The remains consist of a partial vertebral column consisting of 11 vertebrae and an ischium fragment.
This method, unlike previous approaches, is based only on vertebrae and yields results that are congruent with those based on cranial remains. Concerning other metriorhynchids, the record of Dakosaurus in France based only on teeth must be reassessed, and the genus Torvoneustes , if valid, has to be distinguished from Plesiosuchus. Keywords: aff. In January , a block of still-embedded vertebrae and six free dorsal vertebrae was discovered by Franck Deschandol in a Kimmeridgian level at Ecqueville Seine Maritime, north-western France.
First described by Lepage et al. The block has revealed five more nearly complete vertebrae, including a first sacral, as well as an ischium fragment from a marine crocodilian Figure 1 and Figure 2. Different views of the dorsal and sacral vertebra described and the ischium. Dorsal vertebra Sacral vertebra Such a discovery is not surprising in this area. However, what is surprising is the size of the vertebrae: they are in fact twice the size of other specimens found in the Lower Kimmeridgian of Octeville e.
As a group, the 11 vertebrae alone are 1. The state of preservation of the animal, besides its taxonomy, raises questions about the size of the living animal. A new biometric approached is proposed to answer to this question. Moreover, the state of preservation of such a column allows us to gain complete knowledge of the locomotion of this animal using the method of profile of locomotion.
The location of the discovery is well identified thanks to Franck Deschandol, who discovered the specimen in January with Gilles Lepage and Emmanuel Cacheleux and subsequently donated it to the Museum of Le Havre collection number In such well-known marine levels, two mesosuchian families are possible: Teleosauridae and Metriorhynchidae. Isolated dorsal vertebrae are difficult to determine, but fortunately they have quite different sacral vertebrae.
