Ophiussasuchus paimogonectes, López-Rojas & Mateus & Marinheiro & Mateus & Puértolas-Pascual, 2024

López-Rojas, Víctor, Mateus, Simão, Marinheiro, João, Mateus, Octávio & Puértolas-Pascual, Eduardo, 2024, A new goniopholidid crocodylomorph from the Late Jurassic of Portugal, Palaeontologia Electronica (a 5) 27 (1), pp. 1-33 : 4

OPHIUSSASUCHUS PAIMOGONECTES sp. nov

Figures 1-3

zoobank.org/ F31747D6-B166-4DD0-90D8-6443FD97A073

Holotype. ML2776 , an almost complete and well-preserved isolated skull, with some teeth still attached. The specimen is deposited at Lourinhã Museum ( Museu da Lourinhã ), Lourinhã, Portugal.

Etymology. ‘paimogonectes’ refers to the one who swims in Paimogo, where the specimen was found (Paimogo beach, Lourinhã, Portugal).

Age and horizon. Praia Azul Member, Lourinhã Formation, Lusitanian Basin, west coast of Portugal. upper Kimmeridgian-lower Tithonian, Upper Jurassic.

Type locality. Praia de Paimogo (GPS coordinates: 39° 17’ 10.4” N, 9° 20 ’17.4” W), Lourinhã, Lisbon, Portugal .

Diagnosis. Medium-sized crocodylomorph about 2.5 m to 3 m long (estimated body length based on Young et al., 2011), with platyrostral, mesorostrine skull and a marked festooned contour which differs from other goniopholidids since it possess a less pronounced axe-shaped premaxillae dorsal outline; smooth perinarial region with absence of crests around it; presence of different number of maxillary depressions between the left and right regions (four and five, respectively); anteriorly well-marked V-shape border of the palatines in contact with the maxillae; nasals with straight, sub-parallel margins between the maxillae, with little to no lateral expansion at their posterior-most border; main body of the frontal with sub-squared shape in dorsal view, without lateral expansion; nasopharyngeal duct less ventrally exposed than in Jurassic taxa (e.g., Calsoyasuchus or Eutretauranosuchus ) but not as closed as in Cretaceous taxa (e.g., Hulkepholis or Anteophthalmosuchus ); presence of two small, thin, anteroposteriorly elongated and crescent-shaped palatal fenestrae between the maxillae and the palatines.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Skull of ML2776 Ophiussasuchus paimogonectes gen. et sp. nov., in dorsal view. Anatomical abbreviations: f, frontal; itf, infratemporal fenestra; j, jugal; lac, lacrimal; mx, maxilla; mx.dp, maxillary depressions; n, nasal; o, orbit; pa, parietal; pal, palpebral; pf, prefrontal; pmx, premaxilla; po, postorbital; q, quadrate; qj, quadratojugal; sq, squamosal; stf, supratemporal fenestra; t, tooth. Scale represents 10 cm. Image by C. Pineda.

FIGURE 2. Skull of ML2776 Ophiussasuchus paimogonectes gen. et sp. nov., in ventral view. Anatomical abbreviations: ec, ectopterygoid; j, jugal; mx, maxilla; pmx, premaxilla; pl, palatine; pt, pterygoid; q, quadrate; sof, suborbital fenestra; t, tooth; v, vomer. Scale represents 10 cm. Image by C. Pineda.

FIGURE 3. Skull of ML2776 Ophiussasuchus paimogonectes gen. et sp. nov., in lateral view. Anatomical abbreviations: ec, ectopterygoid; j, jugal; mx, maxilla; mx.dp, maxillary depressions; n, nasal; pal, palpebral; pf, prefrontal; pmx, premaxilla; po, postorbital; pt, pterygoid; q, quadrate; qj, quadratojugal; sq, squamosal; t, tooth. Scale represents 10 cm. Image by C. Pineda.