Benthosuchus

Benthosuchus
Temporal range: Early Triassic, 251–247 Ma
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Skull of Benthosuchus sushkini
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: †Temnospondyli
Suborder: †Stereospondyli
Family: †Benthosuchidae
Efremov, 1940
Genus: †Benthosuchus
Efremov, 1937[1]
Species
  • †B. sushkini (Efremov, 1929 [originally Benthosaurus sushkini]) (type)
  • †B. korobkovi Ivachnenko, 1972
  • †B. bashkiricus Otschev, 1972
  • †B. gusevae Novikov, 2012
  • †B. lukyanovi Morkovin, 2020
Life restoration of Benthosuchus sushkini
Underside of the skull of the species Benthosuchus korobkovi showing double rows of small teeth and large fangs on the front palate

Benthosuchus (meaning "deep water crocodile") is an extinct genus of temnospondyl amphibian from the Early Triassic of Russia. It was primarily aquatic, living in rivers and lakes. Multiple species are known, with the largest reaching about 2.5 meters in length.

Russian paleontologist Ivan Yefremov [Efremov] called the genus Benthosaurus "deep water lizard" (from Ancient Greek βένθος (benthos) "depth, deep water") in his original 1929 description, "in view of its clearly indicated adaptation to life in deep water" shown by "the position of the orbits and the flatness of the skull." The type species B. sushkini honored his late teacher Petr Sushkin. The generic name was preoccupied by Benthosaurus Goode & Bean, 1886, a fish, and he renamed the genus Benthosuchus ("deep water crocodile") in 1937.[2][3]

Benthosuchus has traditionally been considered a member of the temnospondyl superfamily Trematosauroidea, and the family Benthosuchidae was established in 1940 to include Benthosuchus and the related trematosauroid Thoosuchus. Some recent phylogenetic studies have removed Benthosuchus from Trematosauroidea entirely, placing it as a closer relative of Mastodonsauroidea, another group of Triassic temnospondyls. Other studies retain Benthosuchus within Trematosauroidea, but since Benthosuchus and Thoosuchus have successively basal positions on these trees they form a paraphyletic grouping, not a valid clade.[4] Benthosuchidae was widely considered to be a monotypic family containing only Benthosuchus, until the discovery of the related Kwatisuchus in 2024.[5]

  1. ^ Igor Novikov (July 2012). "New data on trematosauroid labyrinthodonts of Eastern Europe: 4. Genus Benthosuchus Efremov, 1937". Paleontological Journal. 46 (4). doi:10.1134/S0031030112040089.
  2. ^ Efremov, I. A. (1929). Benthosaurus sushkini, ein neuer Labyrinthodont der permotriassischen Ablagerungen der Sharschenga Flusses. Bulletin of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR 8:747-770. [English translation: https://paleoglot.org/files/Efremov%201929b.pdf]
  3. ^ Efremov, I.A. (1937). On the Stratification of Continental Permian and Triassic the Soviet Union Based on the Terrestrial Vertebrate Fauna. Doklady Akademii Nauk SSSR. Nov. Ser. 16(2): 125–132.
  4. ^ Damiani, R.J.; Yates, A.M. (2003). "The Triassic amphibian Thoosuchus yakovlevi and the relationships of the Trematosauroidea (Temnospondyli: Stereospondyli)" (PDF). Records of the Australian Museum. 55 (3): 331–342. doi:10.3853/j.0067-1975.55.2003.1388.
  5. ^ Pinheiro, Felipe L.; Eltink, Estevan; Paes‐Neto, Voltaire D.; Machado, Arielli F.; Simões, Tiago R.; Pierce, Stephanie E. (2024-01-19). "Interrelationships among Early Triassic faunas of Western Gondwana and Laurasia as illuminated by a new South American benthosuchid temnospondyl". The Anatomical Record. doi:10.1002/ar.25384. ISSN 1932-8486.