Rhacheosaurus

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title: "Rhacheosaurus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["late-jurassic-crocodylomorphs-of-europe", "prehistoric-pseudosuchian-genera", "prehistoric-marine-crocodylomorphs", "solnhofen-fauna", "thalattosuchia", "fossil-taxa-described-in-1831"] description: "Extinct genus of reptiles" topic_path: "general/late-jurassic-crocodylomorphs-of-europe" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhacheosaurus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Extinct genus of reptiles ::

| fossil_range = Late Jurassic,

| image = Rhacheosaurus gracilis FMNH.jpg | image_caption = Fossil specimen at the Field Museum of Natural History | display_parents = 2 | genus = Rhacheosaurus | parent_authority = Meyer, 1831 | species = gracilis | authority = von Meyer, 1831 ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Racheosaurus_gracilis.png"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Geosaurus.jpg" caption="Williston]], 1914"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Rhacheosaurus.png" caption="Referred specimen"] ::

Rhacheosaurus is an extinct genus of marine crocodyliform belonging to the family Metriorhynchidae. The genus was established by Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer in 1831 for skeletal remains from the Tithonian (Late Jurassic) of Germany. It was a relatively small reptile, measuring between 1.39 and long.

History and classification

A phylogenetic analysis in 2009 showed that several long-snouted species formerly classified in the related genera Geosaurus, Enaliosuchus, and Metriorhynchus were in fact more closely related to the original specimens of Cricosaurus, and thus were re-classified into this genus. This analysis also resurrected the generic name Rhacheosaurus.

The cladogram below is from an analysis by Mark Young and colleagues in 2020.

|1=Thalattosuchus superciliosus |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=Gracilineustes acutus |2=Gracilineustes leedsi}} |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=Maledictosuchus nuyivijanan |2=Maledictosuchus riclaensis}} |2={{clade |1=Metriorhynchus brevirostris |label2=Rhacheosaurini |2={{clade |1={{clade |1="Metriorhynchus" palpebrosus |2={{clade |1="Cricosaurus" saltillensis |2={{clade |1=Swiss rhacheosaurin |2=Cretaceous rhacheosaurin}}}}}} |2={{clade |1=Metriorhynchinae indet. (Cuba) |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=Rhacheosaurus gracilis |2=cf. Cricosaurus}} |label2=Cricosaurus |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=Cricosaurus bambergensis |2={{clade |1=Solnhofen Cricosaurus |2={{clade |1=Cricosaurus elegans |2=Cricosaurus suevicus}}}}}} |2={{clade |1=Cricosaurus lithographicus |2={{clade |1=Cricosaurus araucanensis |2={{clade |1=Cricosaurus vignaudi |2=Cricosaurus schroederi

Niche partitioning

Several species of metriorhynchids are known from the Mörnsheim Formation (Solnhofen limestone, early Tithonian) of Bavaria, Germany: Rhacheosaurus gracilis, Dakosaurus maximus, Geosaurus giganteus and Cricosaurus suevicus. It has been hypothesised that niche partitioning enabled several species of crocodyliforms to co-exist. The top predators of this Formation appear to be D. maximus and G. giganteus, which were large, short-snouted species with serrated teeth. The long-snouted C. suevicus and R. gracilis would have fed mostly on fish, although the more lightly built Rhacheosaurus may have specialised towards feeding on small prey. In addition to these four species of metriorhynchids, a moderate-sized species of Steneosaurus was also contemporaneous.

References

References

1. Meyer, H von 1831. ''Neue fossile Reptilien aus der Ordung der Saurier'' Nova Acta Academiae Leopoldino-Carolinae Curios '''15''' (2): 173-184.
2. (2011). "Body size estimation and evolution in metriorhynchid crocodylomorphs: implications for species diversification and niche partitioning". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
3. (2009). "What is ''Geosaurus''? Redescription of ''Geosaurus giganteus'' (Thalattosuchia: Metriorhynchidae) from the Upper Jurassic of Bayern, Germany". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
4. (2020). "Cutting the Gordian knot: a historical and taxonomic revision of the Jurassic crocodylomorph ''Metriorhynchus''". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
5. Andrade MB, Young MT. (2008). "High diversity of thalattosuchian crocodylians and the niche partition in the Solnhofen Sea".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::