Goniopholis
Sign in to saveGoniopholis (meaning "angled scale") is an extinct genus of goniopholidid crocodyliform that lived in Europe and North America during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. Like other goniopholidids, it resembled living crocodilians, and probably had a similar ecology as semi-aquatic ambush predators.
Article
7 sectionsContents
- Discovery and species
- Formerly assigned species
- Description
- Ecology
- Classification
- References
- Sources
Goniopholis (meaning "angled scale") is an extinct genus of goniopholidid crocodyliform that lived in Europe and North America during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. Like other goniopholidids, it resembled living crocodilians, and probably had a similar ecology as semi-aquatic ambush predators.
==Discovery and species== upright|thumb|left|G. crassidens holotype BMNH 3798 The type species of the genus is G. crassidens which is known from the Berriasian of England, and the referable species G. simus from the Berriasian of NW Germany, might be conspecific. Other species that are referable to Goniopholis include G. kiplingi from the Berriasian of England, and G. baryglyphaeus from the Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) of Portugal making it the oldest known Goniopholis species. The species G. kiplingi honors the author Rudyard Kipling, "in recognition for his enthusiasm for natural sciences". G. kiplingi had skull reaching , it is one of the largest goniopholidid along with Amphicotylus milesi which had skull reaching . Based on skull length, total body length of G. kiplingi is estimated at .