Goniopholis

File:Goniopholis crassidens.jpg

File:Goniopholis BW.jpg

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 {{cvt|475.6|mm}}, it is one of the largest goniopholidid along with Amphicotylus milesi which had skull reaching {{cvt|43|cm}}.{{Cite journal |last=Yoshida |first=Junki |last2=Hori |first2=Atsushi |last3=Kobayashi |first3=Yoshitsugu |last4=Ryan |first4=Michael J. |last5=Takakuwa |first5=Yuji |last6=Hasegawa |first6=Yoshikazu |date=2021 |title=A new goniopholidid from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation, USA: novel insight into aquatic adaptation toward modern crocodylians |url=https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.210320 |journal=Royal Society Open Science |language=en |volume=8 |issue=12 |pages=210320 |doi=10.1098/rsos.210320 |issn=2054-5703 |pmc=8652276 |pmid=34909210}} Based on skull length, total body length of G. kiplingi is estimated at {{cvt|3.47|m}}.

Eggs attributed to Goniopholis were found in the Late Jurassic of Portugal.Russo, J., Mateus O., Marzola M., & Balbino A. (2017). Two new ootaxa from the late Jurassic: The oldest record of crocodylomorph eggs, from the Lourinhã Formation, Portugal. PLOS ONE. 12, 1-23.

A partial skeleton of an indeterminate species of Goniopholis has been recovered from the Berriasian aged Angeac-Charente bonebed of France.Ronan Allain, Romain Vullo, Lee Rozada, Jérémy Anquetin, Renaud Bourgeais, et al.. [https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03264773/document Vertebrate paleobiodiversity of the Early Cretaceous (Berriasian) Angeac-Charente Lagerstätte (southwestern France): implications for continental faunal turnover at the J/K boundary]. Geodiversitas, Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle Paris, In press. ffhal-03264773f

Goniopholis have been inferred to have been ectothermic on the basis of bone histology and stable isotope analysis.{{cite journal | last1 = Faure-Brac | first1 = M.G. | last2 = Amiot | first2 = R. | last3 = de Muizon | first3 = C. | last4 = Cubo | first4 = J. | last5 = Lécuyer | first5 = C. | title = Combined paleohistological and isotopic inferences of thermometabolism in extinct Neosuchia, using Goniopholis and Dyrosaurus (Pseudosuchia: Crocodylomorpha) as case studies | journal = Paleobiology | publisher = Cambridge University Press (for The Paleontological Society) | date = 2021 | pages = 1-22 | doi = 10.1017/pab.2021.34| doi-access = free }}

The taxon Macellodus brodei was named in 1854 by Sir Richard Owen for a partial maxilla and referred jaws, with Owen interpreting the material as that of a lizard. The maxilla was considered missing my Hoffstetter in 1967, who designated a neotype, though this neotype was then removed from Macellodus and referred to the lacertilian Becklesisaurus. Review by Richard Estes in 1983 rediscovered the type of Macellodus among crocodilian remains in the Natural History Museum, London, recognizing that it belonged to the premaxilla of a crocodilian. Estes considered that Macellodus should be a synyonym of Goniopholis, and G. brodei would have priority over G. simus, but instead of advocating for synonymy Estes found that G. brodei is undiagnostic.{{cite book|last=Estes|first=R.|year=1983|chapter=Part 10A. Sauria terrestria, Amphisbaenia|title=Handbuch der Palaoherpetologie|editor-last=Kuhn|editor-first=O.|publisher=Gustav Fischer Verlag|pages=210}}

File:Goniopholis stalking Dryosaurus mount.webp]]

Two species were referred to Goniopholis from Brazil. Goniopholis hartti from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil is in fact a member of the genus Sarcosuchus. G. paulistanus, based on two tooth crowns and a disassociated fragment of the right tibia from the Upper Cretaceous Bauru Group, has been reassigned to Itasuchidae and given its own genus Roxochampsa.{{cite journal |first1=A.E. |last1=Piacentini Pinheiro |first2=P.V.L.G. |last2=da Costa Pereira |first3=R.G. |last3=de Souza |first4=A.S. |last4=Brum |first5=R.T. |last5=Lopes |first6=A.S. |last6=Machado |first7=L.P. |last7=Bergqvist |first8=F.M. |last8=Simbras |year=2018 |title=Reassessment of the enigmatic crocodyliform "Goniopholis" paulistanus Roxo, 1936: Historical approach, systematic, and description by new materials |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=13 |issue=8 |page=e0199984 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0199984|pmid=30067779 |pmc=6070184 |bibcode=2018PLoSO..1399984P |doi-access=free }}

From North America, G. lucasii and G. kirtlandicus are currently placed in their own genera Amphicotylus and Denazinosuchus, respectively, while G. felix, G. gilmorei, and G. stovalli, all from the Morrison Formation, are referable to Amphicotylus and closely related to Eutretauranosuchus which are known from the same formation.{{cite journal |last=Allen |first=E.|year=2010 |title=Phylogenetic analysis of goniopholidid crocodyliforms of the Morrison Formation |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=30 |issue=Supp. 1 |pages=52A | doi = 10.1080/02724634.2010.10411819|s2cid=220429286}}{{Cite journal | last1 = Pol | first1 = D. | last2 = Leardi | first2 = J.M. | last3 = Lecuona | first3 = A. | last4 = Krause | first4 = M. | title = Postcranial anatomy of Sebecus icaeorhinus (Crocodyliformes, Sebecidae) from the Eocene of Patagonia | doi = 10.1080/02724634.2012.646833 | journal = Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology | volume = 32 | issue = 2 | pages = 328 | year = 2012 | s2cid = 86565764 }}{{Cite journal | last1 = Pritchard | first1 = A.C. | last2 = Turner | first2 = A.H. | last3 = Allen | first3 = E.R. | last4 = Norell | first4 = M.A. | title = Osteology of a North American Goniopholidid (Eutretauranosuchus delfsi) and Palate Evolution in Neosuchia | doi = 10.1206/3783.2 | journal = American Museum Novitates | issue = 3783 | pages = 1–56 | year = 2013 | hdl = 2246/6449 | s2cid = 73539708 | url = https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/163529 }}

G. phuwiangensis is known from NE Thailand, but this species is fragmentary and was recently reassigned to Sunosuchus. Nannosuchus from the Early Cretaceous (Berriasian stage) of England and Spain currently considered to be valid, was referred to as G. gracilidens by some authors.

Willett's / Hulke's, Hooley's and Dollo's goniopholidids represent several complete specimens previously classified as either G. simus or G. crassidens, and one of them was recently re-described as the new species, G. willetti. More recently these specimens were removed from Goniopholis, and two of them, Hooley's and Hulke's goniopholidids, have been already reassigned to their own genera Anteophthalmosuchus and Hulkepholis, respectively.{{cite book |author1=Steven W. Salisbury |author2=Darren Naish |year=2011 |chapter=Crocodilians |editor=Batten, D. J. |title=English Wealden Fossils |publisher=The Palaeontological Association (London) |pages=305–369}} Dollo's goniopholidid has also been assigned to Anteophthalmosuchus.{{cite journal | title = Osteology and affinities of Dollo's goniopholidid (Mesoeucrocodylia) from the Early Cretaceous of Bernissart, Belgium | journal = Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology | volume = 36 | issue = 6 | pages = e1222534 | first1 = J.E. | last1 = Martin | first2 = M. | last2 = Delfino | first3 = T. | last3 = Smith | date = 2016 | doi = 10.1080/02724634.2016.1222534 | s2cid = 89199731 | hdl = 2318/1635521 | hdl-access = free }}

Koumpiodontosuchus aprosdokiti from England was initially identified as a juvenile Goniopholis.

Like other goniophoilids, Goniopholis bears a superficial resemblance to modern crocodilians. However, unlike modern crocodilians and like other goniopholidids, the dermal armour covering the back was composed of two rows of large rectangular scutes running parallel down each side of the midline, with a "peg and groove" mechanism articulating the sets of plates together, with the outer edge of the plates deflected downwards.{{Cite journal |last=Puértolas-Pascual |first=E |last2=Mateus |first2=O |date=2020-06-11 |title=A three-dimensional skeleton of Goniopholididae from the Late Jurassic of Portugal: implications for the Crocodylomorpha bracing system |url=https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/189/2/521/5610606 |journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society |language=en |volume=189 |issue=2 |pages=521–548 |doi=10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz102 |issn=0024-4082}}

Goniopholidids likely had a similar ecology to modern crocodilians as semi-aquatic ambush predators.{{Cite journal |last1=Ristevski |first1=Jorgo |last2=Young |first2=Mark T. |last3=de Andrade |first3=Marco Brandalise |last4=Hastings |first4=Alexander K. |date=April 2018 |title=A new species of Anteophthalmosuchus (Crocodylomorpha, Goniopholididae) from the Lower Cretaceous of the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom, and a review of the genus |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0195667117302136 |journal=Cretaceous Research |language=en |volume=84 |pages=340–383 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2017.11.008}}

File:Goniopholis simus skull.jpg]]

File:Goniopholis - Castilla-La Mancha Paleontological Museum (Cuenca, Spain).jpg]]

Below is a cladogram including several Goniopholis species:

{{clade| style=font-size:85%;line-height:85%

|label1=Neosuchia

|1={{clade

|label1=Atoposauridae

|1={{clade

|1= Theriosuchus pusillus

|2= Theriosuchus guimarotae }}

|2={{clade

|1={{clade

|1=Rugosuchus

|2={{clade

|1=Bernissartia

|2=Eusuchia }} }}

|2={{clade

|1=Stolokrosuchus

|2={{clade

|1={{clade

|1=Tethysuchia

|2=Thalattosuchia }}

|label2=Goniopholididae

|2={{clade

|1= Calsoyasuchus valliceps

|2={{clade

|1={{clade

|1="Goniopholis" phuwiangensis

|2={{clade

|1= Eutretauranosuchus delfi

|2="Sunosuchus" junggarensis }}

|3={{clade

|1= Sunosuchus miaoi

|2= Sunosuchus thailandicus }} }}

|2={{clade

|1= Siamosuchus phuphokensis

|2={{clade

|1= Amphicotylus lucasii

|2={{clade

|1= Denazinosuchus kirtlandicus

|2= Nannosuchus gracilidens

|3={{clade

|1={{clade

|1=Hulkepholis (Hulke's goniopholidid)

|2={{clade

|1=Anteophthalmosuchus (Hooley’s goniopholidid)

|2=Anteophthalmosuchus (Dollo’s goniopholidid)}} }}

|label2=Goniopholis

|2={{clade

|1=Goniopholis baryglyphaeus

|2={{clade

|1=Goniopholis kiplingi

|2=Goniopholis simus }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }}

{{Clear}}

{{Reflist|2}}

• {{cite journal | last1=Buffetaut | first1=E | last2=Ingavat | first2=R | title=Goniopholis phuwiangensis nov. sp., a new mesosuchian crocodile from the Mesozoic of North-eastern Thailand | journal=Geobios | volume=16 | issue = 1 |pages=79–91 | year=1983 | doi = 10.1016/S0016-6995(83)80048-5 }}
• {{cite journal |last1=Holland |first1= W. J. |year=1905 |title= A new crocodile from the Jurassic of Wyoming |journal=Annals of the Carnegie Museum | volume=3| issue=3 |pages=431–434 | issn=0097-4463 }}
• {{cite journal |last1=Mook |first1= C. C. |year=1964 |title= New species of Goniopholis from the Morrison of Oklahoma |journal=Oklahoma Geology Notes |volume=24 | pages= 283–287 | issn=0030-1736}}
• Owen, R. 1878. Monograph on The Fossil Reptilia of the Wealden and Purbeck Formations, Supplement no. VII. Crocodilia (Goniopholis, Pterosuchus, and Suchosaurus). Palaeontological Society Monograph, p. 1-15.
• {{cite journal | last1=Owen | first1=R. | title=On the Association of dwarf crocodiles (Nanosuchus and Theriosuchus pusilus, e. g.) with the diminutive mammals of the Purbeck Shales | journal=Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London | volume=35 | issue=1–4 | pages=148–155 | year=1879 | doi = 10.1144/GSL.JGS.1879.035.01-04.02 | s2cid=129650812 | url=https://zenodo.org/record/1930388 }}
• {{cite journal |author=Salisbury, S. W. |author2=Willis, P. M. A. |author3=Peitz, S. |author4=Sander, P. M. |name-list-style=amp |date=December 1999 |title= The crocodilian Goniopholis simus from the Lower Cretaceous of north-western Germany | journal=Special Papers in Palaeontology |volume=60 | pages= 121–148 | isbn = 978-0-901702-67-8 }}
• {{cite journal | last1=Schwarz | first1=Daniela | title=A new species of Goniopholis from the Upper Jurassic of Portugal | journal=Palaeontology | volume=45 |issue=1 |pages= 185–208 | year=2002 | doi = 10.1111/1475-4983.00233 }}

{{Portal|Paleontology}}

{{Neosuchia|N.}}

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Category:Goniopholididae

Category:Early Cretaceous crocodylomorphs of Europe

Category:Prehistoric reptiles of Africa

Category:Late Jurassic crocodylomorphs of Europe

Category:Late Jurassic crocodylomorphs of North America

Category:Taxa named by Richard Owen

Category:Fossil taxa described in 1841

Category:Prehistoric pseudosuchian genera