Suchodus

Suchodus is an extinct genus of metriorhynchid thalattosuchian from the Middle to Late Jurassic period of England and France It measured between in total body length. It was a fully marine reptile that would have fed on other large marine fauna.

Taxonomy and phylogeny

Suchodus was originally described by Richard Lydekker in 1890, based on the front part of a lower jaw collected from the Oxford Clay near Peterborough, with the type species being S. durobrivensis. Remains of this species have also been reported from the Marnes de Dives of Normandy in Northern France. The genus was regarded as a junior synonym of Metriorhynchus by Andrews, 1913. Later studies from the 2000s onwards questioned this synonymy. Some authors have also included the species "S." brachyrhynchus, originally described for a specimen from the Callovian of Mesnil Bavent, Normandy, within the genus. Its placement in Suchodus has been questioned, and it has otherwise assigned to the genus Metriorhynchus or argued that it should be placed in its own new genus.

Classification

Suchodus is a member of the metriorhynchid subfamily called Geosaurinae and the derived tribe Geosaurini. Members were generally large marine predators, adapted to open-ocean life with streamlined bodies, powerful tails, and long, robust jaws lined with sharp teeth. Suchodus is most closely related to the genus Plesiosuchus, both forming the group Plesiosuchina.
The cladogram below is from an analysis by Léa Girard and colleagues in their description of Torvoneustes jurensis.