Phytosauria Translation and Pronunciation Guide

Ben Creisler

Angistorhinopsis von Huene 1922 "Angistorhinus-look"

an-JIS-to-rie-NOP-sis (Angistorhinus + Gr. opsis "face, appearance") (f) named for a supposed resemblance to the geologically earlier genus Angistorhinus; von Huene erected the family Angistorhinidae in 1936 to include Angistorhinus and Angistorhinopsis, as well as Promystriosuchus. i.s. L. Trias. Eur. [nomen dubium]

Angistorhinus Mehl 1913 "narrow snout" (?"hook snout")

an-JIS-to-RIEN-us (?for Lat. angustus "narrow" + Gr. rhin- (rhis) "snout" + -us) (m) name and etymology not explained, but evidently referring to "a rostrum produced into a long, slender, depressed snout" with a hooked tip. Mehl's spelling is puzzling, however, and appears to be an idiosyncratic rendering of either Latin angustus "narrow," or possibly Greek agkistron (latinized ancistrum) "hook"--both a slender muzzle and a hooked tip are features cited in the original description of the skull. Angistorhinidae L. Trias. NA. NAfr.

Arganarhinus Long & Murry 1995 "Argana (Morocco) snout"

ahr-GAHN-a-RIEN-us (Argana + Gr. rhin- (rhis) "snout" + -us) (m) named for the Argana basin, Morocco, where the specimen was found; for "Palaeorhinus" magnoculus Dutuit. Mystriosuchidae L. Trias. NAfr. (Morocco)

Arribasuchus Long & Murry 1995 "Rio Arriba crocodile"

ah-REE-ba-SOOK-us ((Rio) Arriba + Gr. soukhos "crocodile") (m) named for Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, where the genoholotype was found; for Cope's "Belodon" buceros BOO-se-ros "ox-horned" (alluding to the squamosal, which forms "a short triangular acute horn" on the skull). Angistorhinidae L. Trias. NA.

Belodon von Meyer 1842 "arrow tooth"

BEL-o-don (Gr. belos "dart, arrow" + Gr. odon "tooth") (m) named for the "arrow-shaped form of the teeth." Most current researchers treat the once widely used name Belodon as a nomen dubium, based on inadequate type material (Belodon plieningeri, consisting of teeth and a jaw fragment). The species "Belodon" kapffi von Meyer, known from a large well preserved skull, is now the type of the genus Nicrosaurus; broad dermal armor long attributed to Belodon is now the basis for the aetosaur genus Paratypothorax. A complete skull von Meyer identified as B. plieningeri in 1861, represents a distinct definable taxon to be described by A. Hunt ("Nicrosaurus meyeri"). Von Meyer classified Belodon in his Pachypoda (= Dinosauria Owen), but Huxley (1870) disputed its alleged dinosaurian characters, and later (1875) placed the genus in his own suborder Parasuchia as a primitive crocodilian. L. Trias. Eur. [nomen dubium]

Brachysuchus Case 1929 "short (snout) crocodile"

brak-i-SOOK-us (Gr. brakhys "short" + Gr. soukhos "crocodile") (m) named for the comparatively short and low shape of the snout; "the most striking characters of the skull are the lack of any prenarial eminence and the breadth and heaviness of the rostrum." Angistorhinidae L. Trias. NA. NAfr. [=? Angistorhinus]

Centemodon Lea 1856 "point tooth"

sen-TEEM-o-don (Gr. kentema "point, goad" + Gr. odon "tooth") (m) named for the pointed shape of the teeth; perhaps not a phytosaur. L. Trias. NA. [nomen dubium]

Clepsysaurus Lea 1853 "clepsydra (vertebra) lizard"

KLEP-si-SAWR-us (from Gr. klepsydra "waterclock" (with double-funnel shape) + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) Lea explains: "The name is given from the remarkable form of the centrum of the vertebrae, which are very much compressed laterally toward the center," resulting in an hour-glass shape. L. Trias. NA. [nomen dubium (= ?Rutiodon)]

Coburgosuchus Heller 1954 "Koburg (Germany) lizard"

ko-BUHR-go-SOOK-us (Coburgum, Latin name for Koburg, Germany + Gr. soukhos "crocodile") (m) named for Koburg, Germany, where the fossil was found. Angistorhinidae L. Trias. Eur. [nomen dubium (= ?Nicrosaurus]

Compsosaurus Leidy 1856 "adorned (tooth) lizard"

KOMP-so-SAWR-us (Gr. kompsos "elegant [delicate, adorned]" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) alluding to the striated enamel on its teeth. L. Trias. NA. [nomen dubium]

Eurydorus Leidy 1859 "wide spear (tooth)"

yoo-RID-o-rus (Gr. eurys "wide, broad" + Gr. doras "spear" + -us) (m) named for a single serrated tooth. L. Trias. NA. [nomen dubium = (?Rutiodon)]

Francosuchus Kuhn 1932 "Franconia (Germany) crocodile"

FRANG-ko-SOOK-us (Franconia + Gr. soukhos "crocodile") (m) named for the Franconia region of central Germany, where the fossil was found [= Paleorhinus]

Heterodontosuchus Lucas 1898 "mixed tooth crocodile"

het-e-ro-DON-to-SOOK-us (Gr. heteros "mixed" + Gr. odont- (odous) + Gr. soukhos "crocodile") (m) named for the greater size of the anterior teeth compared to the others in a jaw fragment originally attributed to a true crocodile. L. Trias. NA. [nomen dubium]

Leptosuchus Case 1922 "slender crocodile"

LEP-to-SOOK-us (Gr. leptos "slender" + Gr. soukhos "crocodile") (m) named in reference to its long, slender snout. Angistorhinidae L. Trias. NA.

Lophoprosopus Mehl 1915 "crest face"

LOF-o-pro-SOH-pus (Gr. lophos "crest" + Gr. prosopon "face, appearance" + -us) (m) named for the "high, vertical swelling or crest extending almost the entire length" of the rostrum; proposed name for "Belodon" kapffi as a distinct genus--Fraas' generic name Nicrosaurus has priority, however. [= Nicrosaurus]

Machaeroprosopus Mehl 1916 "knife face"

ma-KEER-o-pro-SOH-pus (Gr. makhaira "knife, sword" + Gr. prosopon "face, appearance" + -us) (m) named for the shape of the crest along its skull: "the [facial] crest differs from that of [Nicrosaurus] in that it does not present the swollen edge of the latter, but is thin and knife-like." The original type specimen of Machaeroprosopus validus is now lost, and no photographs are known, precluding a modern verified diagnosis of the taxon. Various authors have treated the genus as a junior synonym of Rutiodon or Pseudopalatus. Long and Murry (1995) have erected the new genus Smilosuchus for the large species originally identified as Machaeroprosopus gregorii Camp. Angistorhinidae L. Trias. NA. [nomen dubium (= ?Pseudopalatus)]

Mesorhinosuchus Kuhn 1961 "intermediate-snout crocodile"

MES-o-RIEN-o-SOOK-us (Gr. meso- "middle" + Gr. rhin- (rhis) "snout" + Gr. soukhos "crocodile") (m) to replace preoccupied Mesorhinus Jaekel 1910. i.s. ?L. Trias. Eur. [nomen dubium (= ? Paleorhinus)]

Mesorhinus Jaekel 1910 "intermediate snout"

MES-o-RIEN-us (Gr. meso- "middle" + Gr. rhin- (rhis) "snout" + -us) (m) for a form with a pineal foramen, unknown in other adult phytosaurs, and nostrils placed further in front of the preorbital fenestra than typical in phytosaurs, intepreted as primitive traits; known from a partial skull lacking the rostrum that was supposedly found in an Early Triassic deposit (a date now disputed). Type specimen lost in WW II. (Preoccupied by Mesorhinus Ameghino 1885. See Mesorhinosuchus)

Metarhinus Jaekel 1910 "beyond snout"

MET-a-RIEN-us (Gr. meta "between, beyond, over" + Gr. rhin- (rhis) "snout" + -us) (m) proposed by "Belodon" buceros Cope, with nostrils further back on the skull than in "Belodon" kapffi [Nicrosaurus]; (Preoccupied by Metarhinus Osborn 1908) [= Arribasuchus]

Mystriosuchus Fraas 1896 "spoon (snout) crocodile"

MIS-tree-o-SOOK-us (Gr. mystrion "spoon" + Gr. soukhos "crocodile") (m) named for the somewhat broadened spoon-shaped tip of its long narrow snout. Mystriosuchidae L. Trias. Eur.

Nicrosaurus O. Fraas 1866 "Neckar River lizard"

NIE-kro-SAWR-us (Nicrus, ancient Latin name for the Neckar River + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for the Neckar River region of southern Germany, where the type fossil skull was found; for von Meyer's "Belodon" kapffi KAP-fie (named for Sixt Friedrich Jakob Kapffi (1809-1887), German fossil collector and preparator); the name is patterned after Mosasaurus "Meuse River lizard." Angistorhinidae L. Trias. Eur. ?NA. SAs. (The presence of Nicrosaurus in North America is disputed by a number of researchers (Ballew 1989; Long & Murry 1995).)

Omosaurus Leidy 1856 "savage lizard"

OH-mo-SAWR-us (Gr. omos "crude, savage, blood-thirsty" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for a carnivorous nature indicated by its sharp teeth. L. Trias. NA. [nomen dubium]

Palaeoctonus Cope 1877 "ancient killer"

pay-lee-OK-to-nus (Gr. palaios "ancient" + Gr. -ktonos "killer") (m) named for its sharp teeth; once described as a dinosaur. [nomen dubium (= ?Rutiodon]

Palaeonornis Emmons 1857 "ancient bird"

PAY-lee-o-NOR-nis (for Gr. palaios "ancient" + Gr. ornis "bird") (m) named for a portion of a phytosaur snout mistaken for the sacrum of a bird [= Rutiodon]

Paleorhinus Williston 1904 "ancient snout"

PAY-lee-o-RIEN-us (Gr. palaios "ancient" + Gr. rhin- (rhis) "snout" + -us) (m) named to indicate a form of phytosaur "somewhat more primitive than any hitherto known...characterized by the more anterior position of the external nares." Mystriosuchidae L. Trias. NA. Eur. India

Parasuchia Huxley 1875 "near crocodiles"

PAR-a-SOOK-ee-a (Gr. para "near" + Gr. soukhos "crocodile" + -ia) (n) Named for a resemblance and presumed ancestral relationship to true crocodiles. Originally proposed as a suborder of the Crocodylia for Stagonolepis (an aetosaur) and Belodon, and including the then undescribed Parasuchus. The term Parasuchia is widely used a synonym for Phytosauria, and now excludes aetosaurs. [taxon]

Parasuchus Huxley 1870 "near-crocodile"

PAR-a-SOOK-us (Gr. para "near" + Gr. soukhos "crocodile") (m) named to indicate a resemblance and supposed ancestral relationship to later true crocodiles. Huxley suggested that the difference in position of the nostrils "might facilite respiration when the animal was engaged, after the manner of Crocodiles, in drowning its prey, but this would not hold good in the case of the Gavial, which feeds on fish." Huxley did not publish a formal description of the taxon, then based on fragmentary material. Lydekker's 1885 revision of the species Parasuchus hislopi included material belonging to a rhynchosaur, confusing the diagnosis. The status of Parasuchus remained problematical for many later authors, and the genus was overlooked as doubtful or even classified as a rhynchosaur (Hoffstetter 1955). Chatterjee (1974) took the position that the type species was diagnosable based on a portion of a jaw from Huxley's material, and, in 1978, attributed two nearly complete skeletons from the Maleri Formation of India to Parasuchus hislopi, noting that the specimens were virtually indistinguishable at a generic level from the North American Paleorhinus. Chatterjee treated Parasuchus as the valid generic name for the taxon, making Paleorhinus a junior synonym. However, a number of other researchers since have preferred to identify the new Indian specimens as a distinct species of the well-known Paleorhinus, and have restricted the genus Parasuchus to Huxley's type material as a nomen dubium. L. Trias. India [nomen dubium]

Phytosauria von Meyer 1861 "plant lizards"

FIE-to-SAWR-ee-a (Gr. phyton "plant" + Gr. sauros "lizard" + -ia) (n) The term "plant lizard" is one of the most notorious misnomers in vertebrate paleontology, and is based on a mistake made in the original description of the genus Phytosaurus--mud had filled the toothsockets in a lower jaw and petrified, forming cylindrical moulds that were mistaken for true teeth. Phytosaurs were predators with sharp teeth designed to impale fish and slice flesh. The group is also referred to as the Parasuchia. [taxon]

Phytosaurus Jaeger 1828 "plant lizard"

FIE-to-SAWR-us (Gr. phyton "plant" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named to indicate the animal's supposed diet, based on blunt-tipped mud casts of toothsockets mistaken for fossil teeth. According to Jaeger: "The teeth seem to be more adapted to a vegetable diet, even though they have not been worn away, as in Iguanodon." What Jaeger described as "teeth" were in fact rod-like remains of mud that had filled empty toothsockets and petrified. The "teeth" were preserved with a badly deteriorated lower jaw and part of a skull resembling that of a gavial. He interpreted the "tooth" specimens upside-down, and thought the base of the aveolar moulds (which had taken on the cylindrical and cubical shapes of the alvaeoli) were blunt tooth-crowns designed to crush plant material, hence the generic name Phytosaurus "plant lizard," and the species names cylindricodon "cylindrical tooth" and cubicodon "cubic tooth." The real teeth were missing and would have been pointed and sharp, typical of a carnivore, making the name one of the most notorious misnomers in the history of vertebrate paleontology. Jaeger's mistake was noted by Quenstedt in 1843 and by von Meyer in 1844. Confusing nomenclature and the fragmentary state of the type material notwithstanding, historical usage has retained the misleading term "phytosaur" for the entire group. ?Angistorhinidae L. Trias. Eur. [nomen dubium]

Promystriosuchus Case 1922 "before-mystriosuchid"

proh-MIS-tree-o-SOOK-us (Gr. pro- "before" + Mystriosuchus) (m) named to indicate a member of the "Mystriosuchid group of Phytosauria," retaining "certain primitive characters." [= Paleorhinus]

Pseudopalatus Mehl 1928 "false palate"

SOO-do-pa-LAY-tus (Gr. pseudos "false" + Lat. palatus "palate") (m) named for the supposed "development of a complete, bony, second palate...unique among phytosaur genera." Camp (1930) disputed Mehl's interpretation the type fossil, noting that crushing had shifted the palatine bones out of place in the original skull. Modern analysis of additional specimens shows that Pseudopalatus, like all phytosaurs, lacked a bony second palate analogous to that found in modern crocodiles, making Mehl's generic name a misnomer. Phytosaurs undoubtedly had a soft palate that allowed the animals to breath and swallow at the same time, however. Angistorhinidae L. Trias. NA.

Redondasaurus Hunt & Lucas 1993 "Redonda (Formation) crocodile"

ray-DON-dah-SAWR-us (Redonda (from Span. redonda "surrounding district") + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for the Redonda Formation, east central New Mexico, where the fossil was found. Treated as synonym of Pseudopalatus by Long and Murry (1995). Angistorhinidae L. Trias. NA. [= ?Pseudopalatus]

Rhytidodon Cope 1866 "wrinkle tooth"

ri-TID-o-don (Gr. rhytid- (rhytis) "wrinkle, fold" + Gr. odon "tooth") (m) Cope's emended spelling of Emmons' Rutiodon; widely used in paleontological literature up into the early 20th century. [= Rutiodon]

Rutiodon Emmons 1856 "wrinkle tooth"

ROO-tee-o-don (t.L.m.: ruh-TIE-o-don) ("rutis," irregular latinization for Gr. rhytis "wrinkle, fold" + Gr. odon "tooth") (m) named for the strong vertical striations on isolated teeth found in Egypt, North Carolina. An incomplete skull with lower jaws found in the same formation as the teeth (diagnosable material that Emmons (1860) himself referred to Rutiodon carolinensis) were designated as the neotype in 1989. Various authors have used the generic name as a senior synonym for a number of other genera (Machaeroprosopus, Pseudopalatus), but Long and Murry (1995) have restricted the name to forms known from the East Coast of North America. (NOTE: Many sources give the modern English pronunciation as "ROO-tee-o-don" (Webster's New International Dictionary, etc.). According to strict Latin rules, zoological names that end in -odon "tooth" take their main accent on the before-next-to-last syllable (antepenultimate), and 19th century researchers, including Emmons himself, almost certainly pronounced the irregularly formed name ruh-TIE-o-don, or more likely ROOSH-o-don, with a softened "ti" sound as in "militia," "Nova Scotia," etc.) Angistorhinidae L. Trias. NA.

Smilosuchus Long & Murry 1995 "knife crocodile"

SMIEL-o-SOOK-us (Gr. smila "knife" + Gr. soukhos "crocodile") (m) based (presumably) on the name Machaeroprosopus "knife face," alluding to the sharp crest running the length of its skull; proposed for Camp's "Machaeroprosopus" gregorii gre-GOR-ee-ie (for William King Gregory, noted American vertebrate paleontologist, who worked at the American Museum of Natural History); a giant phytosaur (12 m.). Angistorhinidae L. Trias. NA.

Suchoprion Cope 1877 "crocodile saw"

soo-KOP-ree-on (Gr. soukhos "crocodile" + Gr. prion "saw") (m) named for its large teeth. L. Trias. NA. [nomen dubium]

Termatosaurus Plieninger 1844 "end lizard"

TER-ma-to-SAWR-us (Gr. termat- (terma) "end, boundary" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) so-named because the fossil was found in deposits identified as coming from the end of the Keuper period, Late Triassic. The specimen may not belong to a phytosaur. L. Trias. Eur. [nomen dubium]