mesosuchian

plural mesosuchians · alternative Mesosuchian

1. biologyAny of the informal group †Mesosuchia of terrestrial, semi-aquatic, or fully aquatic crocodylomorph reptiles, previously thought to be true cocodiles.

   The kind of change which would convert a Parasuchian into a Mesosuchian, would, if continued, convert a Mesosuchian into an Eusuchian.

   1859, Geological Survey of Great Britain, Edward Forbes, Memoirs of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom: Figures and Descriptions Illustrative of British Organic Remains, H.M. Stationery Office, page 42

   1 more example

   Most mesosuchians became extinct 65 million years ago, but some managed to survive in Australia, until about one million years ago, when they too became extinct.

   1993 [1989], Grahame Webb, S. Charlie Manolis, Crocodiles of Australia, Reed, page 16

alternative Mesosuchian

1. not comparablebiologyRelating to or being part of the informal group †Mesosuchia.

   All of the mesosuchian crocodiles that are thought to have been dinosaur egg predators have a number of features in common.

   1996 October 7, Archimedes Plutonium, “Fossil of rat in the Mesozoic”, in sci.bio.paleontology (Usenet)

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   Near the close of the Jurassic appeared for the first time, so far as we now know, broad-headed mesosuchian crocodiles, forms having less numerous and stronger teeth, and resembling closely modern alligators. It has been believed that these broad-headed

   1914, Samuel Wendell Williston, Water Reptiles of the Past and Present, University of Chicago Press, page 206

   Crocodilians contribute little to the solution of the Late Cretaceous interchange problem. A number of "mesosuchian" families are present in the Cretaceous of South America.

   1985, Francis G. Stehli, S. David Webb, editors, The Great American Biotic Interchange, Springer US, page 148

   But millions of years ago, especially during the Mesozoic era in the Mesosuchian heyday, it would have been relatively easy to distinguish crocodylia genera from one another, or even other non-crocodylia genera, such as phytosaurs and champsosaurs which evolved convergently on the crocodyliform's evolutionary design.

   2002, Allen Debus, Diane E. Debus, Dinosaur Memories, Authors Choice Press, page 271

plural Mesosuchians

1. Alternative letter-case form of mesosuchian

1. not comparableAlternative letter-case form of mesosuchian