Benthosuchus
Name:
Benthosuchus.
Phonetic: Ben-foe-soo-kus.
Named By: Efremov - 1937.
Synonyms: Parabenthosuchus.
Classification: Chordata, Amphibia,
Temnospondyli, Stereospondyli, Benthosuchidae.
Species: B. sushkini
(type), B. bashkiricus?, B. gusevae, B.
korobkovi, B. lukyanovi, B. uralensis.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Body length estimated to be about 2.5
meters long. Skull seventy-five centimetres long.
Known locations: Russia.
Time period: Induan to Olenekian of the Triassic.
Fossil representation: Multiple specimens but
usually of cranial remains.
Benthosuchus
has been considered to be a member of the Trematosauroidea (type
genus Trematosaurus),
but in more recent time the genus has also
been considered to be a member of the Mastodonsauroidea (type genus
Mastodonsaurus).
However the primitive nature of Benthosuchus
makes
a confident assignment difficult to establish.
Benthosuchus
seems to have been a mid-sized temnospondyl amphibian with an estimated
length or around two and a half meters. As a predator Benthosuchus
likely preyed upon fish and other smaller temnospondyls.
Further reading
- The Triassic amphibian Thoosuchus yakovlevi and
the relationships
of the Trematosauroidea (Temnospondyli: Stereospondyli). -
Records of the Australian Museum 55: 331–342. - R. J.
Damiani & A. M. Yates - 2003.
- New data on trematosauroid labyrinthodonts of Eastern Europe: 4.
Genus Benthosuchus Efremov, 1937. - Paleontological Journal
46(4):68-79 - I. V. Novikov - 2012.
- A New Benthosuchid (Amphibia: Temnospondyli) from the Lower Triassic
of the Moscow Syncline. - Paleontological Journal 54(4):401–409. -
Boris Morkovin - 2020.
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